HOUSE OF COMMONS COMMISSION

Cats

Gordon Prentice: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission if the House of Commons Commission will consider the merits of providing a resident cat.

Nick Harvey: The Commission has no plans to introduce a cat. The House Service includes a qualified pest controller, who monitors and controls pests on the parliamentary estate using humane and effective methods. In addition, an independent expert is employed to audit and advise on pest control, and inspections of catering areas are undertaken by the local council. The clear advice we have is that all effective measures possible are being taken, but that in a building such as the Palace, pests such as mice can only be controlled rather than eradicated.

Security

Nick Hurd: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission whether the House of Commons Commission has engaged any  (a) private intelligence and  (b) private security firms or consultants in the last 12 months.

Nick Harvey: The House of Commons has engaged one private security firm in the last 12 months for one specific piece of work in connection with the internal inquiry into the unauthorised disclosure of information on Members' allowances.

ELECTORAL COMMISSION COMMITTEE

Departmental Internet

David Davies: To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission what redesigns of websites operated by the Electoral Commission have taken place since 27 June 2007; and what the  (a) cost to the public purse and  (b) date of completion of each such redesign was.

Gary Streeter: The Electoral Commission informs me that it has completed two website redesign projects in this period.
	The first was the redevelopment of its corporate website:
	www.electoralcommission.org.uk
	This project was completed in June 2008 at a cost of £283,744.
	The second was the redevelopment of the Commission's voter information website:
	www.aboutmyvote.co.uk
	This project was completed in August 2008 at a cost of £140,600.

Electoral Register

Eleanor Laing: To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission what recent estimate the Electoral Commission has made of the number of people registered to vote in (a) local,  (b) European and  (c) general elections.

Gary Streeter: The Commission informs me that the Office for National Statistics (ONS) collects annual electoral registration data showing the number of entries on the local government and parliamentary registers. The most recent figures are for the electoral registers on 1 December 2008 and show the following numbers of entries on the electoral registers for the United Kingdom.
	
		
			  Type of election  Entries on the electoral registers 
			 Local government 46,147,877 
			 Parliamentary 45,194,449 
		
	
	For the European Parliament elections across the United Kingdom on 4 June 2009, the number of entries on the registers was 45,312,626.
	The ONS is due to publish figures for the 1 December 2009 electoral registers in the spring of 2010.

Hotels

Anne Main: To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission how much the Electoral Commission has spent on hotel accommodation for its staff in each of the last five years.

Gary Streeter: The Electoral Commission informs me that it has spent approximately the following amounts in each of the last five years on hotel accommodation for staff. It is not possible to provide more precise figures as these totals include some travel and subsistence expenses, and to disaggregate these would incur disproportionate cost:
	
		
			   £ 
			 2004-05 32,080 
			 2005-06 29,480 
			 2006-07 23,490 
			 2007-08 56,850 
			 2008-09 71,090

DEFENCE

Afghanistan: Peacekeeping Operations

Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the Prime Minister's Statement of 30 November 2009,  Official Report, columns 831-6, on Afghanistan and Pakistan, on what date the Government agreed with the Afghan government that the capacity of the Helmand police training centre would be doubled; and if he will make a statement.

Ivan Lewis: I have been asked to reply.
	The decision to increase the capacity of the recently opened interim Helmand police training centre from 150 to 250 police per course was taken by the Helmand provincial chief of police on 28 October 2009. The decision is fully supported by the Civilian-Military Mission in Helmand. The UK has funded the interim police training centre as part of a programme of capacity building in Helmand, including the training and mentoring of Afghan national police recruits.

Afghanistan: Peacekeeping Operations

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether operational commitments in Afghanistan have affected the military's capability to build temporary bridges in the UK.

Bill Rammell: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 15 December 2008,  Official Report, column 331W, to the hon. Member for Portsmouth, South (Mr. Hancock). This includes our capability to build bridges in the UK.

Air Force: Deployment

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the average unit tour interval was for each  (a) aircraft and  (b) helicopter crew type in the Royal Air Force in the latest period for which figures are available.

Bill Rammell: The average unit tour interval for each RAF aircraft and helicopter crew type, including those in Joint Helicopter Command, as at 3 December 2009 is shown in the following table.
	The roles and deployment patterns vary between each type of aircraft and this is reflected in the tour intervals experienced by their aircrew. Aircrew when not deployed on operations continue to meet defence commitments and conduct training.
	
		
			  Aircraft type  Average tour interval  Tours 
			 Hercules C130K 42 days Afghanistan 
			 Hercules C130J 92 days Afghanistan and Iraq 
			 Hercules C130K 90 days Falkland Islands 
			 Sentinel 63 days Afghanistan 
			 Tristar 70 days Afghanistan 
			 VC10 20 months Falkland Islands 
			 Tornado GR4 18 months Afghanistan 
			 BAE125 three months Afghanistan 
			 BAE146 three months Afghanistan 
			 Chinook 42 weeks Afghanistan 
			 Merlin 44 weeks Afghanistan 
			 Sea King 17 months Falkland Islands

Armed Forces: Absence without Leave

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many armed forces personnel went absent without leave  (a) from posts (i) in Scotland, (ii) in Northern Ireland, (iii) in Wales, (iv) in England and (v) overseas and  (b) while on operations in each month of 2009.

Kevan Jones: The information is not held in the format requested. Centrally held information relates to the number of Absent Without Leave incidents and not to the number of personnel. Additionally, data are only available by month in respect of the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force. In respect of the Army, only the year to date total is held centrally and to obtain this information by month will require a manual search of records which could be provided only at disproportionate cost. The available figures are provided in the following table.
	AWOL statistics are recorded by the number of incidences reported. Within this total there may be service personnel who have been AWOL on more than one occasion. Furthermore, following the reporting of an incidence of AWOL, information may later come to light of extenuating circumstances for that unauthorised absence, such as compassionate, hospitalisation or travel delays beyond the individual's control. In such cases they may not have been formally charged but the incidence is still recorded.
	
		
			Region
			   Royal Navy  Eastern  Western  Northern  Army  Royal Air Force  Region 
			 January 5 5 5 0 - 1 Scotland 
			 February 10 5 5 0 - 0 - 
			 March 10 5 5 0 - 0 - 
			 April 5 5 0 0 - 0 - 
			 May 10 5 5 0 - 0 - 
			 June 10 5 5 0 - 0 - 
			 July 10 5 0 0 - 0 - 
			 August 5 5 0 0 - 1 England 
			 September 10 5 5 0 - 0 - 
			 October 10 5 0 0 - 1 England 
			 November 5 0 0 0 - 3 England 
			 Total (1)82 0 0 0 (1)1,695 (1)6 - 
			 (1) This is the number of recorded incidences, not the number of people AWOL or the number of charges brought.  Notes: 1. Figures in respect of the Royal Navy and Army rounded to nearest 5. 2. The Royal Navy record their AWOL incidences by regions of the United Kingdom (Eastern, Western and Northern) from the ship or unit where they absconded from.

Armed Forces: Cadets

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the  (a) inflow and  (b) outflow of cadet forces staff has been in each month of 2009 to date.

Kevan Jones: This information is neither held centrally nor in the format requested, and could be provided only by a manual search of records thus incurring a disproportionate cost.

Armed Forces: Cadets

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  what the  (a) inflow and  (b) outflow has been of each cadet and combined cadet force in each month of 2009 to date;
	(2)  what the  (a) required and  (b) actual number of cadet staff has been in each month of 2009 to date.

Kevan Jones: Statistics on the strengths of the Adult Volunteers for cadet forces and each cadet and combined cadet force is contained within the document "TSP 7 Annual Publication UK Reserves and Cadets as at 1 April 2009." This is available in the Library of the House and at the following link:
	www.dasa.mod.uk
	Monthly information is neither held centrally nor in the format requested and could only be provided by a manual search of records at disproportionate cost.
	We are greatly indebted to the superb commitment of the adult volunteers who continue to provide such a rewarding experience for the cadets in detachments throughout the country. I am extremely grateful to the Cadet Force Adult Volunteers for the commitment and leadership they continue to display.

Armed Forces: Manpower

Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  what the  (a) trained requirement,  (b) trained strength and  (c) fit for duty strength is of each pinch point trade;
	(2)  what percentage of each pinch point trade is in breach of its harmony guidelines on individual separated service;
	(3)  what the percentage shortfall of  (a) trained requirement,  (b) trained strength and  (c) fit for duty strength of each pinch point trade is.

Bill Rammell: Information detailing pinch point trades has been reclassified. I am withholding the information as its disclosure would, or would be likely to prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the armed forces.
	The House of Commons Defence Committee will continue to be provided with information on the armed forces manning situation, including pinch point trades, under normal security exemptions.

Armed Forces: Mental Health Services

John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many soldiers have been diagnosed with mental health problems following active service in Iraq.

Kevan Jones: The MOD's Defence Analytical Services and Advice (DASA) organisation publishes statistics on first attendances to MOD's out-patient Departments of Community Mental Health (DCMHs) and its in-patient contractor, in the UK Armed Forces Psychiatric Morbidity reports. Quarterly and annual reports for the whole of 2007 and 2008, and quarterly reports for January to March and April to June 2009, are now available both in the Library of the House and on the DASA website at:
	www.dasa.mod.uk
	Equivalent verified data prior to 2007 are not available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Armed Forces: Sport

David Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what his policy is on the funding of competitive sport as an element of adventurous training courses for members of the armed forces; whether this policy has changed during the last six months; and if he will make a statement.

Kevan Jones: holding answer 14 December 2009
	 Both competitive sport and adventurous training in the armed forces make a vital contribution to operational effectiveness, fighting spirit and personal development. They play an important part in service life including recruiting and retention. While some physical activities (canoeing, gliding, mountaineering, parachuting and sailing) can be authorised either as sport or adventurous training, a clear dividing line is drawn. If the activity is 'competitive' it is designated as 'sport' and conducted under the regulations of the relevant national governing body; non-competitive adventurous training is undertaken under the services' adventure training policy. Consequently, publicly-funded adventurous training courses do not involve competitive sport. This policy has not changed in the last six months.

Armed Forces: Sport

David Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the policy of his Department is on the funding of competitive sport involving  (a) teams and  (b) individuals from the armed services; whether that policy has changed during the last six months; and if he will make a statement.

Kevan Jones: holding answer 14 December 2009
	 Sport in the armed forces makes a vital contribution to operational effectiveness, fighting spirit and personal development. It plays an important part in service life including recruiting and retention. Consequently encouragement is given to service personnel to participate in a full range of sporting activities both as team members and individuals. For major sports facilities are provided at units and for all eligible sports public funding is provided, within laid down criteria, for equipment, travel and cash in lieu of rations. Sport is also supported by non-public funds. There has been no change to this policy in the last six months.

Armed Forces: Training

Mark Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether the training restrictions placed on the Officer Training Corps apply to  (a) University Air Squadrons and  (b) University Royal Naval Units.

Bill Rammell: There are currently no training restrictions in place on the Officer Training Corps (OTC). Payments for officer cadets attending training have been suspended since October 2009 as part of a range of budgetary measures put forward by the Army this year. OTC activities are continuing on a voluntary basis, although travel and subsistence costs are being met and all cadets will have the opportunity to earn their annual bounty.
	The Royal Air Force has made a 10 per cent. reduction in its university Air Squadron ground training budget for this financial year, the flying training budget has not been affected. This has reduced some adventurous training activities, and annual paid training days for cadets have been reduced from 35 to 31.
	No training restrictions have been placed on university Royal Navy units this year.

Bailey Bridges

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  whether his Department plans to continue using Bailey bridges;
	(2)  how long it takes on average to construct a Bailey bridge in ideal conditions.

Bill Rammell: The Bailey bridge is no longer used by the British Army. The requirement for long, clear span, high load class bridges is now met by the Logistic Support Bridge (LSB), which is a development of the Bailey bridge. While sharing some characteristics of the proven Bailey bridge system, the LSB has significantly improved performance; primarily due to improvements in design, manufacturing processes and raw materials.
	The time taken to construct a LSB is dependant upon a myriad of different factors including the length of span required, the weight of. traffic that must be supported and crucially the conditions of, and access to the site where the bridge is required. As an illustrative example a 12 bay (36 m) bridge on a pristine site in ideal conditions would take 40 hours to erect. The bridge that was recently constructed in Cumbria (a 52 m span) took three and a half days of bridge construction, within a wider window of almost 10 days for all the associated preparation and support. Given the challenging conditions of this particular task, this is a considerable achievement.

Bailey Bridges

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the load capacity is of the Bailey bridge recently constructed over the River Derwent; and whether his Department plans to build a temporary road bridge over the River Derwent.

Bill Rammell: The load capacity of the temporary footbridge built across the River Derwent is 4.5 tonnes. We are not aware of any plans for Cumbria county council or central Government to ask the Ministry of Defence for the construction of a road bridge, temporary or otherwise.

Departmental Lost Property

Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which of his Department's locations in the UK have recorded  (a) laptop computers,  (b) desktop computers and  (c) memory sticks as having been (i) lost and (ii) stolen in each of the last 10 years.

Kevan Jones: holding answer 14 December 2009
	 This information is not held in the format requested and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Departmental Written Questions

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many and what percentage of parliamentary questions tabled for written answer by his Department on a named day in session 2008-09 received a substantive Answer on that day.

Kevan Jones: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 9 December 2009,  Official Report, column 367W, to the hon. Member for Glasgow, East (John Mason).
	Central guidance on answering parliamentary questions is now available in the "Guide to Parliamentary Work", at the following link:
	http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/parliamentary-clerk-guide.aspx
	In the response to the Procedure Committee Report on written parliamentary questions, the Government accepted the Committee's recommendation that Departments will be required to provide the Procedure Committee with sessional statistics in a standard format on the time taken to respond to written parliamentary questions, accompanied by an explanatory memorandum setting out any factors affecting their performance. This will be taken forward as soon as possible.

Military Bases: Browndown

Peter Viggers: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans there are to continue the activities of those Army Cadet Force units which use the Browndown military accommodation following its planned closure.

Kevan Jones: Cornwall Army Cadet Force (ACF) was the only ACF which used Browndown for its annual camp. This will now take place at Penhale or St. Mawgan. 145 Brigade's central training camps for adults and senior cadets were formerly held at Browndown. These will now be run at Bicester Garrison, Longmoor or Malta Lines in Aldershot, depending on availability.

Naval Strike Wing

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the order of battle of the Naval Strike Wing is; where it is based; and what its command structure is.

Bill Rammell: The Naval Strike Wing (NSW) is part of Joint Force Harrier (JFH) which is based at RAF Cottesmore. NSW flies the Harrier GR9 aircraft and comprises 197 personnel, including 16 pilots. Commanding Officer NSW, a Royal Navy (RN) Commander, is directly responsible to the JFH Force Commander (FC), a RAF Group Captain, who is also Station Commander at RAF Cottesmore.
	The JFH FC is responsible to Air Officer Commanding (AOC) No. 1 Group, RAF Air Command, through Captain Harrier, a RN manned position within HQ No. 1 Group, RAF Air Command-AOC 1 Gp is the Aircraft Operating Authority for all JFH aircraft, aircrew and support personnel.

Rescue Services: Pembrokeshire

Stephen Crabb: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many times a search and rescue helicopter from RMB Chivenor was operational off the coast of Pembrokeshire in  (a) day time and  (b) night time in each of the last five years.

Bill Rammell: The number of search and rescue call outs from RMB Chivenor off the coast of Pembrokeshire are shown in the following table. Day time call outs have been interpreted as between 0800 and 1959. Call outs have been defined as those within a 25 mile radius of the Pembrokeshire coastline.
	
		
			   2005  2006  2007  2008  2009( 1) 
			 Day 26 23 23 15 31 
			 Night 3 4 4 5 5 
			 Total 29 27 27 20 36 
			 (1) Up to 30 September.

Rescue Services: Pembrokeshire

Stephen Crabb: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of the helicopter flying time from  (a) RMB Chivenor,  (b) RAF Valley,  (c) RNAS Culdrose and  (d) Solent Coastguard to Pembrokeshire.

Bill Rammell: The current average helicopter flying times, to the risk areas covering Pembrokeshire and its surrounding coastal waters, together with the estimated flying times for the future UK Search and Rescue-Helicopter (SAR-H) service are provided in the following table.
	
		
			   Current (minutes)  Future (minutes) 
			 RMB Chivenor 34 27 
			 RAF Valley 42 33 
			 RNAS Culdrose 63 49 
			 MCA Lee on Solent 68 68 
		
	
	We continue to meet our national requirement of reaching all very high, all high and 75 per cent. of medium risk areas well within one hour of take off.

OLYMPICS

Christmas

David Davies: To ask the Minister for the Olympics how many Christmas trees were purchased by her Office in each year since its was established; what the cost was of those trees in each year; from where the trees were sourced; what account was taken of the sustainability of the sources of the trees; and by what process the trees were disposed of.

Tessa Jowell: My office has not purchased any Christmas trees since it was established.

Departmental Conferences

John Baron: To ask the Minister for the Olympics which conferences held overseas have been attended by civil servants based in her Department since its inception; and what the cost to the public purse was of such attendance at each conference.

Tessa Jowell: Information on overseas conferences attended by civil servants in the Cabinet Office and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) will be covered in the answers provided by the Minister of State, Cabinet Office and the Under-Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham, Erdington (Mr. Simon) respectively.

Departmental Internet

David Davies: To ask the Minister for the Olympics what redesigns of websites operated by her Office have taken place since 27 June 2007; and what the  (a) cost to the public purse and  (b) date of completion of each such redesign was.

Tessa Jowell: Information on the redesigns of websites in the Cabinet Office and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) will be covered in the answers provided by the Minister of State, Cabinet Office and the Under-Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham, Erdington (Mr. Simon) , respectively.

Departmental Training

John Baron: To ask the Minister for the Olympics how many overseas training courses were attended by her Office's civil servants in the latest period for which figures are available; how many civil servants attended each course; and what the total cost to the public purse was of each course.

Tessa Jowell: Civil servants in the Government Olympic Executive (GOE) report to me through the permanent secretary of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and will therefore be included in the answer provided by the Under-Secretary of Statefor Culture, Media and Sport, my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham, Erdington (Mr. Simon). Cabinet Office civil servants will be covered in the answer provided by the Minister of State, Cabinet Office.

Hotels

Anne Main: To ask the Minister for the Olympics how much her Office spent on hotel accommodation for  (a) Ministers,  (b) special advisers and  (c) civil servants in each of the last five years.

Tessa Jowell: The Government publish an annual list of all (international) ministerial travel costing over £500. The list includes a breakdown of travel by all Ministers and the global figure for the cost of ministerial travel includes the cost of staff (including special advisers) accompanying Ministers. Detail of travel taken in the current year will be published as soon as it is ready after the end of the financial year. All ministerial travel is undertaken in accordance with the Ministerial Code.
	Information on other hotel accommodation used by myself, special advisers and civil servants in my office will be included in the answer provided by the Minister of State, Cabinet Office.

Olympic Games 2012

Hugh Robertson: To ask the Minister for the Olympics how many groups in the Government Olympic Executive have responsibility for 2012 Olympic legacy matters; what the  (a) membership is and  (b) responsibilities for Olympic legacy matters of each such group are; and how many times each such group has met in the last 12 months.

Tessa Jowell: The Olympic and Paralympic Legacy Board in the Government Olympic Executive has responsibility for managing the legacy from the 2012 games.
	Four supporting boards report to the Olympic and Paralympic Legacy Board: covering East London, sports, social and economic legacy. There is also a Nations and Regions Group which ensures that the legacy of the games is UK-wide.
	The members consist of civil servants from across Whitehall and representatives from external organisations who give their time for free.
	This year the Olympic and Paralympic Legacy Board has met three times. Each of its four sub-groups has met two or three times and the Nations and Regions Group members have met four times.
	I will place the terms of reference and membership for each of the groups mentioned above in the Libraries of both Houses.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Historic Buildings: Coventry

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when he expects the review by English Heritage on the proposed listing of Coventry Market to be concluded; what representations his Department has received on the matter; what discussions his Department has had with Coventry city council on the matter; and what assessment he has made of the likely effects of the proposed listing on wider regeneration plans for Coventry.

Margaret Hodge: The grounds for review submitted by the listing review applicants have been assessed by the Department and further advice has been requested from English Heritage, the Secretary of State's statutory advisers on the historic environment. I would expect to be able to make a decision on the review by March 2010.
	The Department has received representations both in favour and opposing listing from private individuals and companies. DCMS has not had any discussions with Coventry city council on the issue of the review.
	The Secretary of State, when making a listing decision, may only take into account the architectural and historic interest of a building. He may not take into account planning matters and, therefore, is unable to consider the possible effects of listing on regeneration plans.

Leisure: Facilities

Malcolm Moss: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much was spent on  (a) leisure facilities and  (b) sports facilities in each district and unitary council area in the Eastern region in the last 12 months.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The information requested is not held centrally in the manner requested; to provide it would incur disproportionate costs.

Sports: Obesity

John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps his Department is taking to encourage participation in sport in Leeds West constituency in order to reduce levels of obesity; and what funding has been made available for this purpose in 2009-10.

Gerry Sutcliffe: DCMS is primarily focused on increasing sports participation, with Sport England as our key delivery partner. However, this is part of a joint target with the Department of Health to get 2 million more people more physically active, including one million more people playing more sport. DCMS and Sport England work very closely with the Department for Health across this target and sport will, of course, have a great positive effect on people's health.
	As the non-departmental public body with responsibility for community sport, Sport England's aim is to increase and sustain levels of participation in sport and develop talent to drive standards of elite performance throughout the country. Its funding is distributed as part of the commitment to get 1 million more people playing more sport by 2012.
	National governing bodies of sport (NGBs) are at the heart of the strategy as it is their networks of community clubs, coaches and volunteers that make sport happen. Sport England is investing £480 million through 46 governing bodies over the next four years and has agreed grow, sustain and excel targets with each one. Each sport has developed a whole sport plan to achieve these targets.
	In addition to the funding which is distributed through NGBs, Sport England also operates a number of other funding streams. In 2009-10 Leeds, West received a revenue Sportsmatch award of £50,000 through Exchequer funding to Leeds Rugby Academy for a community sports programme.
	While no additional lottery awards have been made in the current financial year to Leeds, West, in previous financial years the total value of capital and revenue funding to Leeds, West totalled £2,249,610.

Sports: York

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what financial assistance  (a) the Government and  (b) the National Lottery have given to (i) amateur sports clubs, (ii) sport in schools and (iii) professional sports clubs in York since 1996-97.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The information is as follows:
	 Amateur sports clubs
	(i) In 2002 the Department introduced the Community Amateur Sports Clubs (CASC) Scheme which provides certain tax reliefs for registered clubs, similar to those normally given to charities. The Department does not hold records on the number of clubs registered or the financial benefit received by registered clubs in York. However as at November 2009 the CASC scheme has 5,511 registered clubs across the UK, and Deloittes estimate that it has saved community amateur sports nearly £61 million since the scheme's inception. This money has gone back into sport and has enabled clubs to spend it on everything from facilities to kit.
	Sport England have invested approximately £300 million nationally into national governing bodies of sport (not including the Football Foundation funding) since 2005. While a proportion of this funding was used to develop amateur sports clubs, Sport England are unable to breakdown the information as required. They also provide extra funding (in addition to their funding of national governing bodies of sport) directly to amateur sports clubs around the country including in York.
	The Football Foundation, which is funded by the premier league, the Football Association and the Government, has advised that since its inception in 2000, it has granted a total of £2,227,115 to amateur sports clubs in York. Since 1999 The Big Lottery Fund has also awarded £73,743, through a total of 19 awards, benefiting amateur sports in the city of York constituency.
	 Sport in schools
	(ii) Since 2003, approximately £2.4 billion has been invested nationally to support sport in schools through the PE, School Sport and Club Links (PESSCL) strategy and then the PE and Sport Strategy for Young People (PESSYP). This total is a mixture of Exchequer and lottery funding, of which £686 million has been lottery funding. The Department is unable to provide a breakdown of this total at local authority level without incurring a disproportionate cost.
	The Big Lottery Fund has advised that they awarded £887,392 through a total of 24 awards, benefiting sport in schools in the city of York.
	 Professional sport
	(iii) In terms of lottery funding, the York City football club received a total of £556,163 through the Football Youth Development Programme. The following table provides details of individual awards by year:
	
		
			   Recipient  Project title  Local authority  Total (£) 
			 1998-99 York City FC Football Youth Development Programme York 288,690 
			 2003-04 York City FC Football Youth Development Programme York 138,000 
			 2004-05 York City FC Football Youth Development Programme York 67,890 
			 2005-06 York City FC Football Youth Development Programme York 61,583 
			 Grand total556,163 
			  Source: Sport England

Tourism

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the inbound tourism figures were for the first three quarters of  (a) 2008 and  (b) 2009.

Margaret Hodge: holding answer 1 December 2009
	VisitBritain forecast that the full year picture for tourism in 2009 will be a year-on-year spending increase of 1 per cent.
	While the United Nations World Tourism Organisation predictions were that inbound tourism figures were expected to fall for all countries because of the economic climate, the figures for inbound holiday tourism (up 3 per cent. in the first nine months of this year) and domestic tourism (up 6 per cent. in the first eight months of this year) have remained strong.
	The figures over the first three quarters of both years are set out in the following table. However, latest figures show the number of overseas residents visiting the UK in September 2009 was unchanged compared with September 2008. Furthermore, overseas visitor spend in September was 7 per cent. higher than September last year.
	The latest UK inbound tourism figures (in thousands), for 2008 and 2009 are set out as follows(1).
	(1)( )Source:
	The Office for National Statistics
	
		
			   Number 
			  2008  
			 Quarter 1 7,195 
			 Quarter 2 8,405 
			 Quarter 3 9,358 
			 Quarter 4 6,930 
			   
			  2009  
			 Quarter 1 6,197 
			 Quarter 2 7,904 
			 Quarter 3 (1)8,860 
			 (1) Latest estimate.

PRIME MINISTER

Departmental Conferences

John Baron: To ask the Prime Minister which conferences held overseas have been attended by civil servants based in 10 Downing Street in the last three years; and what the cost to the public purse was of such attendance at each conference.

Gordon Brown: I refer the hon. Member to the annual list of overseas visits by Cabinet Ministers, costing in excess of £500, published by the Government. Copies of the lists are available in the Libraries of the House.

Departmental Electronic Equipment

Greg Hands: To ask the Prime Minister how many plasma screen televisions his Office has purchased since 2001; and what the cost has been of purchasing and installing such screens in each such year.

Gordon Brown: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Minister of State, Cabinet Office (Angela E. Smith) on 14 December 2009,  Official Report, column 839W.

General Elections

Paul Burstow: To ask the Prime Minister when the purdah period in advance of a general election will commence in respect of Government announcements; and if he will make a statement.

Gordon Brown: In line with established practice, once a general election is announced, guidance is issued on questions of procedure and conduct during the period of the election.

Iraq Committee of Inquiry

Edward Davey: To ask the Prime Minister if he will publish a list of all the documents the Government have made available to the Iraq Inquiry.

Gordon Brown: I refer the hon. Member to my statement of 15 June 2009,  Official Report, column 23.

Tony Blair

Greg Hands: To ask the Prime Minister when he last spoke to Tony Blair about official business.

Gordon Brown: I have regular discussions with a wide range of individuals.

WOMEN AND EQUALITY

Departmental Information Officers

Oliver Heald: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality how many full-time equivalent press officers  (a) are employed by and  (b) work for the Government Equalities Office.

Michael Jabez Foster: Six full-time press officers currently work for the Government Equalities Office, supporting the Department and its four Ministers.

Departmental Written Questions

Mark Harper: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality how many and what percentage of Parliamentary Questions tabled for written answer by her on a named day in session 2008-09 received a substantive answer on that day.

Michael Jabez Foster: There were 41 named day parliamentary questions tabled for written answer by the Minister for Women and Equality during session 2008-09. Of these 59 per cent. received a substantive answer on the named day.

Equal Pay

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality what recent progress has been made on reducing the pay gap between men and women.

Maria Eagle: The latest figures from the Office for National Statistics show the gender gap based on median hourly earnings for all employees has fallen from 22.5 per cent. in 2008 to 22.0 per cent. in 2009.

Equalities and Human Rights Commission: Research

John Battle: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality what research the Equality and Human Rights Commission has  (a) conducted and  (b) evaluated on equal pay in respect of (i) ethnic groups, (ii) disabled and able-bodied people and (iii) part-time and full-time employees in (A) Leeds and (B) England; and what level of difference in pay has been identified for each group in each location.

Maria Eagle: The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has published two research reports on gender pay gaps by different equality strands since December 2008. They are:
	Pay Gaps Across Equalities Areas by Simonetta Longhi and Lucinda Platt of the Institute for Social and Economic Research, University of Essex (ECHR Research Report no. 9, 2008); and
	Pay Gaps Across the Equality Strands: a review by Hilary Metcalf of the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (ECHR Research Report no. 14, 2009).
	The first study consists of a statistical analysis of the Labour Force Survey; the second study is a review of the existing research evidence from 2000 onwards. Both reports take a Great Britain wide approach and show data on pay gaps by ethnicity and disability and also include some information on full-time and part-time pay gaps. However, neither report presents data separately for England or for Leeds.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Christmas

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much his Department has spent on Christmas  (a) cards,  (b) parties and  (c) decorations in the last 12 months.

Shaun Woodward: The total spent by the Northern Ireland Office (NIO), its agencies and arm's length bodies, including the Public Prosecution Service on Christmas cards to individuals working in and with the Northern Ireland community was £1,960.53. At Hillsborough castle, provision of two Christmas trees cost £195.00 with a further £909.14 spent on decorations across the rest of the Department. The Northern Ireland Office London office, to mark the work of staff during the year, held a special event; the total cost for this event was £990.28.

Departmental Buildings

John Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much his Department spent on works and refurbishment to offices allocated to Ministers in his Department's buildings in the last 12 months.

Paul Goggins: The amount spent on work and refurbishment to offices allocated to Ministers is not separately costed or invoiced so this question could be answered only at disproportionate cost.

Departmental Publicity

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much his Department has spent on  (a) ministerial photoshoots and  (b) production of videos in which Ministers appear in the last three years for which figures are available.

Paul Goggins: The Northern Ireland Office (NIO), including its arm's length bodies and the Public Prosecution Service Northern Ireland but excluding its agencies and non-departmental public bodies, has had no expenditure on  (a) ministerial photoshoots or  (b) production of videos in which Ministers appear in the last three years.

Police Service of Northern Ireland: Finance

Sammy Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the policing budget in Northern Ireland has been in each year since 1979.

Paul Goggins: The information requested is available only for the last 10 years and is as follows:
	
		
			  £ million 
			   Resource Departmental Expenditure Limit  Capital DEL  Annual Managed Expenditure  Total 
			 1999-2000 640.8 14.1 - 654.9 
			 2000-01 671.5 12.8 - 684.3 
			 2001-02 687.5 18.2 - 705.7 
			 2002-03 702.4 21.6 - 724 
			 2003-04 696 20.4 - 716.4 
			 2004-05 736.4 31.7 - 768.1 
			 2005-06 856.8 32.2 - 889 
			 2006-07 895.2 38.7 - 933.9 
			 2007-08 957 38.4 236.4 1,231.8 
			 2008-09 933.5 41.1 265.2 1,239.8 
			 2009-10 911.8 42.4 288.5 1,242.7

Terrorism

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what his most recent assessment is of the security situation in Northern Ireland; and if he will make a statement.

Paul Goggins: The most recent report of the Independent Monitoring Commission confirms the threat from dissident republicans is more serious than at any time since they began to report in 2004. This small number of people are determined to take Northern Ireland back to the past but will not be allowed to succeed.

TRANSPORT

Buses: Injuries

Andrew Pelling: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how many injuries resulting from passengers falling on buses were reported in  (a) England and  (b) Greater London in the last five years.

Paul Clark: From the information collected by the Department for Transport it is not possible to identify passenger falls on buses. However, it is possible to identify those passengers reported by police as injured on a bus/coach that was in motion and did not impact with any object, vehicle or pedestrian. This information is given in the following table:
	
		
			  Reported bus and coach passenger casualties in vehicles that were in motion and did not impact with any object, vehicle or pedestrian, by position in vehicle( 1) : 2004-08 
			   (a) England  (b) Greater London 
			  Year of accident  Standing  Seated  Standing  Seated 
			 2004 1,319 1,541 644 490 
			 2005 1,296 1,560 593 419 
			 2006 1,295 1,432 597 336 
			 2007 1,161 1,610 444 300 
			 2008 1,110 1,556 436 339 
			 (1) Excludes casualties that were boarding or alighting at the time of the accident.

Departmental Travel

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport 
	(1)  how many buses he used during his mystery traveller bus tour;
	(2)  how much his Department has spent on his mystery traveller bus tour.

Sadiq Khan: To date, I have taken 20 buses.
	I have paid for all my bus fares myself.
	All ministerial travel is undertaken in accordance with the Ministerial Code.

Departmental Travel

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport whether his Department has offset the carbon emissions arising from his mystery traveller bus tour.

Sadiq Khan: My bus tour has been planned to coincide, as far as possible, with existing ministerial commitments. All bus stages undertaken as part of the tour have been made using scheduled bus services available to the public. As such, carbon emissions arising specifically from the tour are negligible and no expenditure has been incurred to offset them.

EU Law

Gregory Barker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what  (a) statutory instruments and  (b) other regulations his Department has brought forward in this Parliament to meet obligations arising from EU law.

Sadiq Khan: Central records of statutory instruments made under specific powers have only been maintained by the Statutory Instruments Registrar since 2001. There are no central records maintained of other regulations.
	Central records show that since the Department for Transport was created in May 2002, it has made 138 statutory instruments to meet obligations arising from EU Law, under powers contained in the European Communities Act 1972.
	EU law obligations may also be met by statutory instruments made under Acts other than the 1972 Act. According to a database held by the Department for Transport, the Department has made a total of 171 statutory instruments since the beginning of 2004 to meet EU law obligations. This number includes those instruments made under the 1972 Act as well as other Acts.
	The cut-off date used for measuring the number of statutory instruments made was 4 December 2009.

Motor Sports Association

Ben Wallace: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what progress has been made in amending legislation to provide for the transfer of responsibility for authorising routes for UK rallies from the Royal Automobile Club to the Motor Sports Association; and when that process is likely to be completed.

Paul Clark: Government officials will be writing to stakeholders shortly with a copy of the draft regulations and to explain how we intend to proceed. We are aiming to complete the process in the spring.

Official Cars: Exhaust Emissions

Charles Hendry: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what the average level of carbon dioxide emissions was for new cars purchased by the Government Car and Despatch Agency in the last 12 months.

Paul Clark: The average level of carbon dioxide emissions for new cars purchased by the Government Car and Despatch Agency in the last 12 months is 142.08g/km.

Public Transport: Crimes of Violence

Theresa May: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport with reference to the Home Department's Together we can end violence against women and girls strategy, how much his Department plans to spend on steps to improve safety on public transport in  (a) 2009-10,  (b) 2010-11 and  (c) each of the subsequent three years; and from what budget such expenditure will be drawn.

Sadiq Khan: Substantial investment by the public transport industry, local authorities, the police and others has already been-and continues to be-made to help achieve a safe environment for public transport passengers and staff. The costs are met through a variety of Government and non-Government funding streams.
	The development of the secure bus stations scheme and any further publication of good practice guidance on improving personal security will be met through the Department's administration budget to cover staff and any consultancy work.
	The Department will contractually require new train operators to ensure the majority of rail stations are accredited under the Secure Stations scheme. All recently let rail franchises contain such provisions. The costs will be met from the rail franchising budget, but cannot be separately identified as they will form part of the total service proposition put forward by bidders.

Severn Bridge: Tolls

Roger Williams: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what mechanism governs the calculation of new annual tolls for the Severn Crossings.

Sadiq Khan: The Severn Bridges Act 1992 provides that new toll rates are introduced on 1 January each year. Under the provisions of section 9(2) of the Act, an annual order is required to be made in December each year fixing the toll amounts for the following year. The annual toll rates are revised in line with a formula related to the retail price index figure for the previous September. The tolls are calculated by multiplying toll rates given in a table in section 9 of the Act by a factor to allow for the inflation increase from March 1989. These amounts are then rounded to the nearest 10 pence.

Severn Bridge: Tolls

Roger Williams: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what assessment he has made of the effect of the Severn Crossing toll on businesses in Wales.

Sadiq Khan: The second Severn Crossing was constructed to alleviate traffic problems on the old Severn Bridge and to improve transport links to businesses in Wales.
	Since 1992, the tolling structure in place allows the Concessionaire to recover the costs associated with the construction of the second Severn Crossing and the financing, operation and maintenance of both Severn Crossings.
	The Department for Transport has made no recent assessment of the impact of the Severn Crossings tolls on businesses in Wales.

Taxis

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what recent estimate his Department has made of the number of unlicensed taxis operating in  (a) England and  (b) Leeds North West constituency.

Sadiq Khan: In order to offer a taxi service lawfully in England (outside London), the driver and the vehicle must be licensed by the relevant local authority under the Town Police Clauses Act 1847. It is a matter for local licensing authorities to make an assessment of the extent of illegal operation in their area and take appropriate enforcement action where necessary. We do not keep a central record of any such assessments.

Taxis: Guide Dogs

Neil Gerrard: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how many exemptions have been granted on medical grounds to licensed taxi drivers from the requirement under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 to carry guide dogs with their owners.

Sadiq Khan: The Department for Transport does not have access to these data centrally as exemptions are issued by local licensing authorities. It will be for licensing authorities to keep their own records as to the numbers of exemptions issued from the duty to carry assistance dogs.

Taxis: Guide Dogs

Neil Gerrard: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what steps he is taking to encourage licensing authorities to ensure that the requirements of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 for licensed taxi drivers to carry guide dogs with their owners are monitored and enforced.

Sadiq Khan: Taxi drivers have a duty under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 to carry assistance dogs in their vehicles. These duties have been in effect since 31 March 2000. It is the responsibility of local licensing authorities to monitor and enforce the duties and should be incorporated into the licensing enforcement regime. The Department for Transport has issued guidance to licensing authorities outlining their duty to enforce the provisions.

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Departmental Electronic Equipment

Greg Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many plasma screen televisions his Department has purchased since 2001; and what the cost to the public purse has been of the purchase and installation of such screens in each such year.

Dan Norris: No plasma screens have been purchased since 2006. Further information concerning the purchase of plasma screens from 2001 to 2005 could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Departmental Energy

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the  (a) energy rating and  (b) energy band of each building occupied by his Department and its agencies was in each of the last three years.

Dan Norris: The OGC publishes central Government Departments' display energy certificate (DEC) operational ratings building by building twice a year. The most recent publication, on 31 July 2009, contains DEC data up to and including 28 February.
	This information can be found on the following website:
	http://www.ogc.gov.uk/government_delivery_display_energy_certificate_data.asp
	Data relating to the energy rating of buildings as at 30 September 2009 will be published on the OGC website on 18 December 2009.

Departmental Energy

Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the energy efficiency rating is of each of his Department's buildings in London.

Dan Norris: holding answer 14 December 2009
	The OGC publishes central Government Departments' display energy certificate (DEC) operational ratings building by building twice a year. The most recent publication, on 31 July 2009, contains DEC data up to and including 28 February. This information can be found on the following website:
	http://www.ogc.gov.uk/government_delivery_display_energy_certificate data.asp
	Data relating to the energy rating of buildings as at 30 September 2009 will be published on the OGC website on 18 December 2009.

Departmental Freedom of Information

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many requests under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 his Department received in 2008; and how many of these received a substantive response within 20 days.

Dan Norris: Statistics published by the Ministry of Justice on freedom of information in central Government for 2008 show that of a total of 446 non-routine requests received by the Department (based on aggregated quarterly data) 72 per cent. (115) received a substantive response within 20 days. 88 per cent. (391) of requests were dealt with 'in time', that is within 20 days by meeting the deadline or other permitted extension deadline.
	The statistics can be found on the Ministry of Justice website at:
	http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/freedomofinformationquarterly.htm
	and copies are available in the Library of the House.

Departmental Publications

Nick Hurd: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the monetary value is of his Department's contract with Seven Squared for the production of its staff magazine; and for what reason the magazine is not produced by his Department's communications office.

Dan Norris: The monetary value of the contract with Seven Squared to produce  Landscape magazine for the financial year 2008-09 was £136,752.24 (not including VAT).
	 Landscape is DEFRA's staff magazine. It is a high- quality publication that is issued 10 times a year and made available to staff in DEFRA, our Executive agencies and the other partner organisations with which we work. Research shows that the magazine is well read, well received and makes a strong contribution to the effectiveness of the business by raising awareness of our wide-ranging portfolio, and for ensuring that staff are clear about the purpose and direction of the Department.
	It is more cost-effective for us to outsource publication of  Landscape to an agency which has the necessary range of specialist equipment, software, technical skills and editorial skills to produce this high quality magazine. To establish and maintain a publication unit in-house which would be underutilised in this specific instance, cannot be justified.

Domestic Waste: Waste Disposal

David Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate he has made of the amount of household waste sent for incineration in the London borough of  (a) Bexley,  (b) Bromley,  (c) Croydon and  (d) Greenwich in the most recent period for which figures are available.

Dan Norris: The tonnage of waste sent for incineration with energy recovery by each of the local authorities in question in the financial year 2008-09 is shown in the following table. These authorities sent no waste to be incinerated without energy recovery in 2008-09.
	The full local authority dataset is available on DEFRA's website.
	
		
			  Local authority  Municipal waste incinerated with energy recovery in 2008-09 (tonnes) 
			 Bexley 14,880 
			 Bromley 43,897 
			 Croydon 309 
			 Greenwich 60,083 
			  Source: WasteDataFlow.

Drinks

David Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate he has made of the number of litres of  (a) soft drinks,  (b) mineral water and  (c) fruit juice were consumed per person in each of the last five years.

Dan Norris: The following table shows the estimated number of litres of soft drinks, mineral water and pure fruit juices purchased by UK household residents in the UK in each year since 2003-04.
	
		
			  Litres per person per year 
			   2003-04  2004-05  2005-06  2006-07  2007-08 
			 Soft drinks 116.0 108.6 102.3 106.4 98.8 
			 Mineral water 15.1 16.3 16.5 18.8 16.7 
			 Pure fruit juice 17.6 15.3 19.0 20.0 18.6 
			 Grand total 148.7 140.3 137.8 145.1 134.1 
			  Notes: 1. Estimates are averages over the UK household population including children. 2. Estimates cover both eating out and household purchases. Concentrated soft drinks have been converted by a factor of 5 to the unconcentrated equivalent.  Source: The Expenditure and Food Survey.

Fish

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate he has made of the  (a) monetary value and  (b) quantity of canned fish purchased by the public sector in each of the last five years.

Dan Norris: The information requested is not available. For the past five years, the procurement of food products, including canned fish, has been a matter for individual public sector organisations and authorities. Future collaborative procurements will provide greater access to this type of information.

Fish

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether his Department's planned collaborative procurement framework for the purchase of canned fish in the public sector will include sustainability criteria.

Dan Norris: DEFRA is working closely with the Office of Government Commerce to ensure that sustainability criteria are embedded into future collaborative food procurement frameworks, including the one referred to on canned fish. The sustainability criteria will be included in the invitation to tender.

Forestry Commission: Internet

David Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what redesigns of websites operated by the Forestry Commission have taken place since 27 June 2007; and what the  (a) cost to the public purse and  (b) date of completion of each such redesign was.

Dan Norris: The Forestry Commission's England website has not been the subject of a redesign process in the period specified, but has benefited from a continuing evolution with the publication of new information and improvements to the user experience.

Incinerators

Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will review the licensing conditions relating to incinerator operators for the purposes of imposing requirements for more detailed reporting, with particular reference to  (a) quarterly reports for incinerator bottom ash and  (b) test results for H14 ecotoxicity.

Dan Norris: There is no legal requirement for more detailed reporting under current UK or EU legislation. There is also no requirement to provide information on H14 testing (or any hazardous waste assessment) under Hazardous Waste Regulations or Environmental Permitting Regulations.

Incinerators

Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what progress his Department has made on the sampling of incinerator bottom ash for the purposes of classifying batches as hazardous or non-hazardous.

Dan Norris: The Environmental Services Association is currently finalising a sampling protocol that can be used to help the assessment of incinerator bottom ash.

Incinerators

Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what  (a) national and  (b) international standards there are in respect of the sampling of industrial waste or other materials to ensure that they are correctly classified as hazardous or non-hazardous.

Dan Norris: Due to the large variation in the composition of waste, there is no single national or international standard that could be applied for sampling wastes.

Incinerators

Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will direct the Environment Agency to make available on its website the quarterly reports produced by incinerator operators on  (a) discharges and  (b) tests on incinerator bottom ash from their licensed facilities.

Dan Norris: The Environment Agency makes these reports available on its public registers. These can be viewed at the regional offices relevant to each facility. They are not stored electronically.

Origin Marking: Israel

Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what proposals he has to identify products from the Israeli settlements in the West Bank and Gaza on labels; and if he will make a statement.

Dan Norris: On 10 December the Secretary of State tabled a written ministerial statement concerning technical advice on the labelling of produce from the Occupied Palestinian Territories. That advice has been issued in response to consumer and retailer concern about a lack of clarity on whether such produce comes from Israeli settlements or Palestinian producers. Some aspects of the advice are relevant to produce from Gaza as well as from the west bank. However, we understand that since 2006 there have been no Israeli settlements in Gaza, therefore the issue of clarity of origin between Palestinian producers and Israeli settlement producers is not applicable.

Recycling

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate he has made of the number of Christmas trees which were recycled in each of the last three years; and whether his Department provides assistance to local authorities for the recycling of Christmas trees.

Dan Norris: No such estimate has been made by DEFRA. The Government believe local authorities are better placed to make decisions on the best waste management strategy for their local area, so it does not direct or interfere in the decisions they make. This includes the facilities local authorities make available for recycling Christmas trees. It does, however, encourage local authorities to consult extensively with residents, to ensure their opinions and preferences are taken into consideration.

Recycling

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate he has made of the number of Christmas cards which were recycled in each of the last three years; and if he will make a statement.

Dan Norris: No such estimate has been made by DEFRA. The Government believe local authorities are better placed to make decisions on the best waste management strategy for their local area, so it does not direct or interfere in the decisions they make. This includes the facilities local authorities make available for recycling Christmas cards. It does, however, encourage local authorities to consult extensively with residents, to ensure their opinions and preferences are taken into consideration.

Whales: Conservation

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether there are plans to revise EU Council Decision 7146/09 of 3 March 2009 in advance of the 62nd International Whaling Commission meeting in June 2010.

Huw Irranca-Davies: Council Decision 7146/09 was adopted on 3 March 2009 and established the position to be taken by the European Community at the subsequent three annual and related intersessional meetings of the International Whaling Commission (IWC). The Council's intention was, therefore, that the Decision should remain in force until the end of the 63rd IWC annual meeting in 2011. Neither the European Commission nor member states have suggested so far that there is any need to amend the Decision.

Whales: Conservation

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when the International Whaling Commission's Small Working Group on the future of the IWC  (a) last met and  (b) plans to meet prior to the 62nd International Whaling Commission meeting in June 2010.

Huw Irranca-Davies: The International Whaling Commission's (IWC) Small Working Group (SWG) last met in March 2009 and was due to meet in December 2009 to discuss the output of the Support Group. The Support Group, set up to assist the chair and the SWG in reaching a decision on a number of issues relating to the future of the IWC, was unable to reach a conclusion at its September 2009 meeting and so will continue discussions. The SWG is, therefore, scheduled to meet again in March 2010 ahead of the 62nd IWC meeting in June.

Whales: Conservation

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when the International Whaling Commission's Support Group of the Small Working Group on the future of the IWC  (a) last met and  (b) plans to meet prior to the 62nd International Whaling Commission meeting in June 2010.

Huw Irranca-Davies: The International Whaling Commission's (IWC) Support Group last met from 4 to 6 December 2009. The group plans to meet again in January 2010 and the product of that meeting will be discussed in the larger meeting of the Small Working Group (SWG) in March. This will allow the SWG to review and discuss the matter prior to the next annual meeting of the IWC in Morocco in June 2010.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Departmental Art Works

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much his Department spent on art works in the last 12 months.

Michael Foster: Works of art displayed in the Department for International Development (DFID) are from the Government Art Collection (GAC), which publishes an annual list of acquisitions. The most recent details of acquisitions made by the GAC were published on 5 October 2009 and are available on the GAC website:
	http://www.gac.culture.gov.uk/information/publications.asp

International Assistance

Phyllis Starkey: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development which Governments contributed to the delivery of aid supplies provided by his Department in  (a) 2007,  (b) 2008 and  (c) 2009, and what steps the Government took in consequence in each case.

Michael Foster: The Department for International Development (DFID) works with other Governments to deliver its aid in two ways:
	Financial aid to partner Governments
	Through delegated co-operation or co-financing arrangements where one donor leads in the relationship with the partner Government.
	We only give financial aid to partner Governments when there is a shared commitment to poverty reduction, human rights and strengthening public financial management. We protect our funds in three ways:
	We assess the risks carefully and have our assessment checked by external experts.
	We ensure that Governments have a credible reform programme to improve their systems; and provide technical support to help them.
	We use safeguards to prevent mis-use of funds and ensure the adequacy of these is checked by independent experts; e.g. additional audits of particular sectors or tracking money from the Ministry of Finance to make sure it gets to the right places.
	Details of where UK aid is delivered are publicly available through the DFID annual reports which are available through the DFID website:
	http://www.dfid.gov.uk/Site-search/?q=annual+report

LEADER OF THE HOUSE

Departmental Conferences

John Baron: To ask the Leader of the House which conferences held overseas have been attended by civil servants based in her office in the last three years; and what the cost to the public purse was of such attendance at each conference.

Barbara Keeley: Since June 2007, no civil servants based in the Office of the Leader of the House of Commons have attended conferences held overseas. The Office of the Leader of the House of Commons joined the Cabinet Office in June 2007 and information from before this time can be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Departmental Electronic Equipment

Greg Hands: To ask the Leader of the House how many plasma screen televisions her office has purchased since 2001; and what the cost has been of purchasing and installing such screens in each such year.

Barbara Keeley: I refer the hon. Member to the answer provided by the Cabinet Office on 14 December 2009,  Official Report, column 839W. This information can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	The Office of the Leader of the House of Commons joined the Cabinet Office in June 2007 and information from before this time can be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Departmental Training

John Baron: To ask the Leader of the House how many overseas training courses were attended by her Office's civil servants in the latest period for which figures are available; how many civil servants attended each course; and what the total cost to the public purse was of each course.

Barbara Keeley: Since June 2007, no civil servants based in the Office of the Leader of the House of Commons have attended overseas training courses. The Office of the Leader of the House of Commons joined the Cabinet Office in June 2007 and information from before this time can be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Departmental Written Questions

Mark Harper: To ask the Leader of the House how many and what percentage of Parliamentary Questions tabled for written answer by her on a named day in session 2008-09 received a substantive answer on that day.

Barbara Keeley: Fifty-two parliamentary questions for named day were tabled to my right hon. and learned Friend during the 2008-09 Session. 100 per cent. of these questions were answered on the named day and substantively.
	Central guidance on answering parliamentary questions is now available in the 'Guide to Parliamentary Work', at:
	http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/parliamentary-clerk-guide.aspx
	In the response to the Procedure Committee report on written parliamentary questions, the Government accepted the Committee's recommendation that Departments be required to provide the Procedure Committee with sessional statistics in a standard format on the time taken to respond to written parliamentary questions, accompanied by an explanatory memorandum setting out any factors affecting their performance. This will be taken forward as soon as possible.

Hotels

Anne Main: To ask the Leader of the House how much her Office spent on hotel accommodation for  (a) Ministers,  (b) special advisers and  (c) civil servants in each of the last five years.

Barbara Keeley: I refer the hon. Member to the answer provided by the Cabinet Office on 14 December 2009,  Official  R eport, column 840W. The information requested for the Cabinet Office is not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
	The Office of the Leader of the House of Commons joined the Cabinet Office in June 2007 and information from before this time can be provided only at disproportionate cost.

WALES

Departmental Pay

Lee Scott: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how much has been paid in bonuses to civil servants in his Department in 2009.

Peter Hain: The Wales Office is subject to Ministry of Justice performance guidance, from which my Department has paid £15,200, in end of year appraisal bonuses. The amounts are set by the Ministry of Justice and are in recognition of outstanding performance; seven Ministry of Justice staff received the reward.
	A further sum of £700 was awarded as a special bonus under the Ministry of Justice reward and recognition scheme, for additional work performed.
	All payments were non pensionable lump sums.

Departmental Sick Leave

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many days sickness absence were taken by staff in his Department in each of the last 12 months for which figures are available; and what the cost to his Department was of such absence.

Peter Hain: The Wales Office does not collect this information in this way, and obtaining this information could be achieved only at disproportionate cost.

Departmental Training

John Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many overseas training courses were attended by his Department's civil servants in the latest period for which figures are available; how many civil servants attended each course; and what the total cost to the public purse was of each course.

Peter Hain: None.

COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Caravan Sites: Travelling People

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government with reference to the written ministerial statement of 24 November 2009,  Official Report, column 44WS, on Gypsy and Traveller caravan count 2009, how many unauthorised Travellers there were on  (a) tolerated and  (b) not-tolerated sites on land (i) owned and (ii) not owned by Travellers, in each year since 2000.

Shahid Malik: The Bi-annual count of Gypsy and Traveller caravans collects data on the number of caravans on authorised and unauthorised sites in England. It does not provide data on the number of persons who are Gypsies and Travellers. The following table derived from the counts covering the period from 19 January to 16 July 2009 shows the number of caravans on unauthorised sites.
	
		
			  Unauthorised sites (without planning permission) 
			   Number of caravans on sites on Gypsies and Travellers' own land  Number of caravans on sites on land not owned by Gypsies and Travellers 
			  Count period  Tolerated  Not tolerated  Tolerated  Not tolerated 
			 July 2009 1205 987 579 958 
			 January 2009 1279 1086 718 545 
			 July 2008 1224 1016 725 971 
			 January 2008 1054 1233 687 823 
			 July 2007 992 1112 572 1316 
			 January 2007 997 1255 491 795 
			 July 2006 964 1258 589 1183 
			 January 2006 714 1440 438 680 
			 July 2005 630 1342 673 1422 
			 January 2005 704 1563 513 778 
			 July 2004 530 1325 593 1816 
			 January 2004 610 1367 573 1021 
			 July 2003 451 1213 652 1663 
			 January 2003 505 903 539 1081 
			 July 2002 439 799 458 1803 
			 January 2002 533 604 615 1022 
			 July 2001 417 547 487 1895 
			 January 2001 458 507 379 1259 
			 July 2000 364 439 486 2027 
			 January 2000 299 429 684 1104 
		
	
	Data extracted from the biannual publications of the Count of Gypsy and Traveller Caravans covering the period January 2000 to July 2009

Community Development: Finance

John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what support his Department gives for the recruitment of community development workers.

Barbara Follett: Communities and Local Government sponsors and funds the Community Development Foundation (CDF) as a non-departmental public body, to be a leading source of expertise on community development and empowerment. As part of its activities, and working with other national community development organisations, CDF provides research evidence and good practice guidance covering the role of community development workers, their recruitment, retention and management. This work will be enhanced by the results of an England-wide survey of Community Development Work, the report of which CDF is due to publish in March 2010.

Community Development: Finance

John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  how many interfaith projects have been funded by his Department since 2005; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  how many grants his Department has made to interfaith organisations since 2005; and if he will make a statement.

Shahid Malik: The Faith Communities Capacity Building Fund was distributed over the three years 2004-05 to 2007-08, in two rounds of funding, to the organisations in the attached lists. The Fund had two categories: capacity building and inter faith activity.
	A total of 73 inter faith organisations have successfully received funding in both rounds of the Faith Communities Capacity Building Fund. A comprehensive list of organisations granted funding is available on the Community Development Fund (CDF) website at:
	www.cdf.org.uk
	Since 2008, we have been committed to a three year programme of investment and support worth over £7.5 million, as announced in our inter faith framework Face to Face and Side by Side.
	Part of this funding is being distributed through the Faiths in Action fund, which aims to support local activities and initiatives that have a direct link to one or more of the four building blocks described in Face to Face and Side by Side: confidence and skills to bridge and link; shared spaces for interaction; structures and processes; and opportunities for learning. All types of organisations at national, regional or local level in England may apply for this funding. The Faiths in Action programme is administered CDF and further information about projects and organisations funded under this programme can be found at:
	www.cdf.org.uk
	The other funding is allocated to a programme of investment over three years in Regional Faith Forums to support and build their capacity, in particular their interaction with local inter faith activity.
	My Department also supports the Inter Faith Network for the UK (IFN) with an annual grant. IFN represents the collective voice of all main faith communities and in partnership with DCLG facilitated England's first inter faith week. The week ran from 15-21 November 2009 and we offered small grants to national inter faith organisations to help with their contribution and enable cross community participation.

Comprehensive Area Assessments

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what role the Audit Commission has in inspecting local development plan documents as part of comprehensive area assessments.

Rosie Winterton: This is an operational matter for the Audit Commission, and I will ask the chief executive of the Audit Commission to write to the hon. Member direct.
	 Letter from Steve Bundred, dated December 2009:
	Your Parliamentary Question outlined above has been passed to me to reply.
	Comprehensive Area Assessment, or CAA, is a new way of assessing local public services in England. It examines how well these services are working together to meet the needs of the people they serve.
	The starting point for assessments is the priorities set and agreed by local public services, based on what is important to local people. The focus of assessments is on outcomes of public services working together on people and places, and prospects for improvement in the future.
	What matters locally varies from place to place. Councils and their local partners have developed sustainable community strategies to set out the challenges and agreed priorities for their areas and how they plan to achieve sustainable development. In addition, they have agreed with central government new local area agreements (LAAs) setting out improvement targets up to March 2011. Longer-term goals are set out in sustainable community strategies and local development frameworks. In CAA, we will consider progress towards achieving local priorities, in relation to these different timescales.
	Judgements are made using a range of evidence. Evidence includes performance data, evidence from any inspections that have taken place in the area, the views of local people and services users and self-assessments that local partners may want to provide. As well as any self-assessment, inspectorates will draw evidence from key documents such as the Sustainable Community Strategies, Housing Strategy, Local Development Framework, Children and Young People's Plan, Joint Strategic Needs Assessments, Community Safety Partnership Plan and reports to, and minutes of, the local strategic partnership, children's trusts, council and scrutiny committees. All of this information is brought together along with information held by the six inspectorates (the Audit Commission, Ofsted, the Care Quality Commission and Her Majesty's Inspectorates of Constabulary, Prisons and Probation) to reach judgements about the quality of public services in the area.
	The findings from CAA are reported on the new Oneplace website at:
	www.direct.gov.uk/oneplace
	A copy of this letter will be placed in Hansard.

Council Housing: Rents

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many and what proportion of local authorities have decided to reduce their level of social housing rent in 2009-10.

Ian Austin: We have no data to suggest that any local authority has reduced social rents in 2009-10.
	Of the 191 authorities with active housing revenue accounts at the beginning of the financial year, 189 (98.9 per cent.) accepted our offer of real help now by way of additional subsidy to reduce their average rent increase to 3.1 per cent., thus providing real help to their tenants.

Council Tax

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what recent representations has he received from the Local Government Association's Labour Group on council tax.

Barbara Follett: The three year settlement delivered by this Government for Local Government, which delivered a 4 per cent. average increase in investment, has resulted in the Secretary of State receiving no formal representations from any LGA group.

Council Tax

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government with reference to the answer to the hon. Member for Brentwood and Ongar on 29 October 2008,  Official Report, column 1136W, on council tax: standards, what data collections outside the national indicator set  (a) are still being collected and  (b) have been discontinued by his Department.

Barbara Follett: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave her on 22 October 2009,  Official Report, columns 1645-646W, in respect to data this Department still collects.
	The Department will be publishing the latest update to its simplification plan on 14 December. This lists the data that the Department has stopped collecting and sets out other work under way to further reduce the regulatory burden. A copy of this update will be available at:
	http://www.communities.gov.uk/corporate/publications/corporate-reports/

Council Tax

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government with reference to the answer of 14 October 2009,  Official Report, column 965W, on council tax, whether he has made an estimate of the effects on the revenue of each local authority with a below-average council tax collection rate of their collection rate.

Barbara Follett: No. Under sections 33 and 44 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992, and regulations 3 and 7 of the Local Authorities (Calculation of Council Tax Base) Regulations 1992, it is the responsibility of individual local authorities to take account of collection rates when considering their council tax base (and the resulting revenues) during the process of setting budgets and their band D council tax levels for a financial year. As a result, the revenue of a local authority with a below-average council tax collection rate is not materially affected for that financial year by such a collection rate.

Council Tax: Billing

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment has been made of the effectiveness of the new requirements to publish efficiency information on council tax bills; and whether research was conducted before implementation of the requirements on the comprehensibility of the information.

Barbara Follett: In the explanatory memorandum to the 2008 regulations governing the inclusion of efficiency information on and with council tax bills, the Department committed to review their operation this financial year.
	The review consisted of two telephone surveys; the first, on the local government experience, asked how people had reacted to the information. It found that about a third of councils were contacted at least once in response to the efficiency information presented on or with the council tax bills. It also asked what operational difficulties, if any, councils had encountered in meeting the requirement. Overall, authorities did not experience the level of difficulty anticipated in their response to the 2008 consultation on the proposal.
	The second survey questioned a small number of consumer groups on their understanding of the public response to the information and sought their views about its effective presentation. Provision of efficiency information was generally welcomed in so far as it meant that the public could be better informed about the work that their local authorities are engaged in.

Departmental Conferences

Graham Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many  (a) away days and  (b) conferences that took place outside his Department's building attended by civil servants in his Department there have been since its inception; and what the cost was of each.

Barbara Follett: The Department does not hold information centrally on the number of away days and conferences attended by staff since its inception. Attendance at away days and conferences are approved by appropriate line managers and there would be a disproportionate cost involved in trying to obtain this information.

Departmental Pay

Lee Scott: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much has been paid in bonuses to civil servants in his Department in each year since 2003.

Barbara Follett: The following table sets out the total cost of performance bonuses paid to civil servants within Communities and Local Government. Figures are only available from the financial period 2004-2005.
	
		
			  Total cost of non - consolidated payments 
			   £ 
			 2009-10 (1)751,150 
			 2008-09 1,284,549 
			 2007-08 1,018,350 
			 2006-07 838,250 
			 2005-06 596,000 
			 2004-05 469,000 
			 (1) This total cost only represents the non consolidated payments made to the SCS and is subject to change once the pay award for all staff below SCS has been implemented 
		
	
	The Department also operate a scheme for all staff below the Senior Civil Service under which individuals or teams may receive a small non-consolidated award in recognition of an outstanding contribution over a limited period. The maximum payment made under these arrangements is £600. Records are only available for the periods set out in the table.
	
		
			  Total cost of in-year performance non-consolidated performance awards 
			   £ 
			 2005-06 116,000 
			 2004-05 105,000 
			 2003-04 116,000 
		
	
	In Communities and Local Government, bonus payments are made to those members of staff who are found to have made a significant contribution towards the achievement of the team's, and/or Department's objectives. Individuals are expected to show that they have exceeded the requirements set for the achievement of the objective and have demonstrated exemplary behaviour in doing so. Our senior civil service staff members are also assessed against a range of factors, including:
	The achievement of their Prime Objective which focuses on the way in which they lead, manage and develop their staff;
	Degree to which business objectives are met;
	Delivery for Ministers;
	Demonstration of skills set out in the Professional Skills for Government framework such as judgment and leadership; and
	Effective resource management.

Departmental Public Expenditure

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many funding streams relating to  (a) housing,  (b) regeneration and  (c) social exclusion are overseen by his Department and its agencies.

Barbara Follett: The information requested is as follows:
	 (a) Housing
	There are four funding streams relating to housing, under the title 'Improving the Supply and Quality of Housing': Central Government Spend; Local Authority Spend; Annually Managed Expenditure and Non-Budget Spend. These are set out in the Department's Main Supply Estimate 2009-10, which covers both the Department and its agencies, and form sections B, M, T and W respectively.
	 (b) Regeneration
	There are two funding streams relating to regeneration, under the title 'Building
	Prosperous Communities, Promoting Regeneration and Tackling Deprivation': Central Government Spend and Local Authority Spend. These form sections C and N respectively of the Main Estimate.
	 (c) Social Exclusion
	There are two funding streams relating to social exclusion, under the title 'Developing Communities that are Cohesive, Active and Resilient to Extremism': Central Government Spend and Local Authority Spend. These form sections D and O respectively of the Main Estimate.
	The Main Estimate 2009-10 can be found at:
	http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/d/1340_me08_dclg_1st.pdf
	This information is also published in the CLG Annual Report 2009, Annex C at:
	http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/corporate/annualreport09
	The annual report also contains further details regarding the specific programmes funded through each of the aforementioned funding streams.

Departmental Public Relations

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what payments  (a) the Fire Service College and  (b) his Department has made to ICE Ltd in each of the last five years; and to what projects these payments relate.

Barbara Follett: holding answer 14 December 2009
	 The information is as follows:
	 (a) The Fire Service College have made the following payments to ICE Ltd:
	
		
			  Business area: Centre for Leadership  £ 
			 2005 0 
			 2006 20,000 
			 2007 44,000 
			 2008 10,000 
			 2009 0 
		
	
	 (b) The Department has made no payments to ICE Ltd in the last five years.

Domestic Waste: Waste Disposal

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government with reference to the answer of 10 November 2009,  Official Report, column 275W, on domestic waste: waste disposal, if he will make it his policy to review the design standards to assess whether they are sufficient to house the number and volume of wheelie bins provided by waste collection authorities to households.

Ian Austin: The Government plan to carry out an evaluation and review of Part H (Drainage and waste disposal) and its guidance as part of the Future of Building Control Implementation Plan and will introduce any necessary revisions in 2013.
	We have reviewed domestic waste disposal within the waste category of the Code for Sustainable Homes (the Code) as part of the Code's general review before its planned consultation later this year. Given the variability of frequency of waste collections by local authorities, we propose to amend the calculation methodology for external space to link it to the frequency of collections by the local authority. Where a local authority does not provide the waste containers and collects fortnightly, the BS5906:2005 space standards (l00 litres for the first bedroom and then a further 70 1itres for each additional bedroom) should be doubled. We are not proposing that you can reduce the space requirements for more frequent collections. Additionally, we propose that where the local authority does not limit the volume of waste collected weekly, then compliance with BS5906:2005 is required. We intend to publish our conclusions from the Code consultation in summer 2010.

Fêtes

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government with reference to the answer of 14 October 2009,  Official Report, columns 965-68W, on fetes, how many  (a) forms and  (b) permits are required for the purposes of operating a fete.

Barbara Follett: We have made no such estimate.

Fire Services

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what guidance documents issued by his Department to fire and rescue authorities on integrated risk management plans relate to  (a) the location of fire stations and fire appliances,  (b) the hours of operation of fire stations,  (c) the priority given to protecting life,  (d) the priority given to protecting property and  (e) socio-economic and geo-demographic targeting of support.

Shahid Malik: Decisions on operational issues such as the location of fire stations and fire appliances, the hours of operation of fire stations and the priority given to identified and assessed risks are taken by individual Fire and Rescue Authorities (FRAs) as part of the integrated risk management planning process.
	A range of IRMP-related guidance has been issued to FRAs and is available on the Communities and Local Government website at:
	http://www.communities.gov.uk/fire/developingfuture/integratedriskmanagement/
	The guidance, which is non-prescriptive, is designed to provide advice and assistance on IRMP and its associated processes, allowing local authorities and local communities to make appropriate decisions at the local level.
	The Department has also provided each fire and rescue service with a suite of software called the fire service emergency cover (FSEC) toolkit. This toolkit allows each fire and rescue service to undertake a risk-based assessment of their area. FSEC is based upon a geographical information system, which takes account of a range of factors including socio-economic and geo-demographic data, and uses bespoke software to calculate the probable losses based on a particular set of response strategies in terms of lives lost and property costs. That then enables the FRA to determine its optimum prevention, protection and response strategies appropriate to its own area.

Fire Services

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government with reference to the recent impact assessment in respect of delays to the FiReControl projects; which fire services were identified as higher risk; and if he will place in the Library a copy of the full results of the impact assessments.

Shahid Malik: We undertook an impact assessment of project delay, working with the fire and rescue services. No fire and rescue service identified unmanageable risks as a result. A small number of fire and rescue services identified increased risks and we are working with them to mitigate these. The information provided by the fire and rescue service was on a confidential basis.

Fire Services

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what mechanism exists for the transfer of individual fire and rescue authorities control functions to regional control centres; and whether he can direct such a transfer.

Shahid Malik: The Government are committed to working in partnership with the Fire and Rescue Service to deliver the benefits which FiReControl will bring. This commitment is set out in the 'Fire and Rescue Service National Framework 2008-11'. Powers exist under sections 22 and 29 of the Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004 to direct a move to the FiReControl network, as a last resort.

Fire Services

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate he has made of the cost of measures taken as a result of delays to the Firelink and FiReControl projects; and which of them are included in the FiReControl business case.

Shahid Malik: Firelink delays have resulted in additional costs in project management which have been recovered from the contractor. The Firelink project has also incurred additional costs for project management in providing an interim solution to enhance integration with existing control rooms due to FiReControl delay. The cost is estimated at £4.6 million Under FiReControl, the estimated cost of the delay in July is £40 million. We have entered into a royalties deal with our supplier on future sales of the system to recover these costs for the taxpayer while enabling the system to be developed. The cost of any delay are referred to in the FiReControl business case.

Floods: Cumbria

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Peterborough of 1 December 2009,  Official Report, column 643W, on floods: Cumbria, whether expenditure incurred by local authorities below the 0.2 per cent. threshold in respect of the recent flooding in Cumbria will be reimbursed under the Bellwin scheme.

Barbara Follett: No. The threshold has been set at 0.2 per cent. of a local authority's calculated annual revenue budget. This is because the Government, throughout the lifetime of the Bellwin scheme, have thought it reasonable to expect authorities to cover costs themselves up to a certain level. Every local authority is required to maintain reserves, one of whose main purposes is to meet unexpected costs. Successive Governments have retained the threshold and it has never been waived, even during the 1987 storms, the 2000 floods, the foot-and-mouth crisis or the 2007 summer floods.
	The threshold applies to annual spending and not to spending on each incident. So authorities who report more than one incident in the same financial year take spending on all reported incidents into account in calculating whether they have exceeded the threshold.

Greenbelt

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment he has made of the effect on his Department's policy on the protection of green belt land of the decision of the Planning Inspectorate of 20 October 2009 in respect of the appeal of Libra Demolition Ltd against the refusal of Leeds City Council to grant outline planning permission for a residential development.

Ian Austin: The site referred to is not in the green belt. However, the case is subject to legal proceedings at present, so it would not be appropriate to comment further at this stage.

Homelessness: Leeds

John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many and what proportion of people classed as homeless and in priority need are under the age of 25 years in Leeds city area; and if he will make a statement.

Ian Austin: Information about English local housing authorities' actions under the homelessness legislation (part 7 of the Housing Act 1996) is collected at local authority level, and published by the Department in the quarterly Statistical Release on Statutory Homelessness, available both in the Library and via the CLG website at:
	http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/corporate/statistics/homelessnessq32009
	Data collected include the number of households accepted by local housing authorities as eligible for assistance, unintentionally homeless and in priority need, and therefore owed a main homelessness duty (to secure that suitable accommodation is available).
	Data on age of applicants accepted as owed a main homelessness duty are available at national level and provided in table 10(b) of the statistical release, found at the link above and in the Library. The first age band shows applicants who are aged between 16 and 24 years old (all applicants must be 16 or over).
	Data are also available at a national level on applicant households with dependent children accepted as owed a main homelessness duty, in table 5 of the statistical release mentioned above. However the actual number of children is not held centrally.
	During the July to September quarter 2009, there were 123 homeless acceptances in Leeds, of which 30, or 24 per cent. were from applicants aged 16 to 24 and 84, or 68 per cent. were households with dependent children.
	A table showing the number and proportion of accepted applicants aged between 16 and 24 years and applicant households with dependent children, at local authority level has been placed in the Library.

Homelessness: Young People

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  what estimate he has made of the proportion and number of homeless people aged 18 years or under;
	(2)  what estimate he has made of the proportion and number of homeless people aged 25 years or under.

Ian Austin: Information about English local housing authorities' actions under the homelessness legislation (part 7 of the Housing Act 1996) is collected at local authority level, and published by the Department in the quarterly Statistical Release on Statutory Homelessness, available both in the Library and via the CLG website:
	http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/corporate/statistics/homelessnessq32009
	Data collected include the number of households accepted by local housing authorities as eligible for assistance, unintentionally homeless and in priority need, and therefore owed a main homelessness duty (to secure that suitable accommodation is available). If a settled home is not immediately available, the authority must secure temporary accommodation until a settled home becomes available, and this information is also collected.
	Figures on the number and proportion of applicants under the age of 25 who were accepted as owed a main homelessness duty, was given in response to my right hon. Friend the Member for Leeds, West (John Battle) today (PQ 306600).
	A table showing the number and proportion of households with children (and the actual number of children) in temporary accommodation can be found in the statistical release mentioned above.
	We also hold centrally data on the number of 16 to 17-year-old applicant households in temporary accommodation, and on 30 September there were 1,590 in this category, 3 per cent. of the total number of households in temporary accommodation on this date.

Housing

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government with reference to the answer of 11 November 2009,  Official Report, column 525W, on housing, how many first-time buyers purchased a home with a mortgage in the UK in each year from 1979 to 1995.

Ian Austin: The numbers of first-time buyers purchasing a home with a mortgage in the UK in each year from 1979 to 1995 are presented in the following table:
	
		
			  First time buyers purchasing with a mortgage, UK 
			   Number 
			 1979 320,200 
			 1980 314,400 
			 1981 342,100 
			 1982 433,800 
			 1983 477,600 
			 1984 531,300 
			 1985 557,800 
			 1986 612,700 
			 1987 523,700 
			 1988 580,300 
			 1989 455,200 
			 1990 409,200 
			 1991 336,200 
			 1992 447,600 
			 1993 519,500 
			 1994 532,100 
			 1995 420,300 
			  Source: Council of Mortgage Lenders. 
		
	
	Today there are 1.6 million more home-owners than in 1991 and 1 million more than in 1997.

Housing Benefit

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many local authorities have responded to his Department's consultation on the Housing Revenue Account.

Ian Austin: The Department received 155 responses from local authorities to the consultation on proposals to reform the Housing Revenue Account subsidy system.

Housing Benefit: Lancashire

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what recent assessment he has made of the incidence of housing benefit fraud in East Lancashire; and if he will make a statement.

Helen Goodman: I have been asked to reply.
	Department for Work and Pensions fraud and error estimates, published in the Fraud and Error in the Benefit System series, provide fraud and error estimates at a national level. The estimates are derived from the examination of a sample of benefit payments. The sample sizes are too small to produce valid estimates at sub-national level, so therefore information for East Lancashire is not available.

Housing: Carbon Emissions

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what requirements there are on a householder to make adjustments for the purposes of energy efficiency to a dwelling that householder proposes to extend.

Ian Austin: Minimum standards for energy efficiency are set out in Part L of the Building Regulations (England  Wales), 'Conservation of fuel and power'. Part L requirements apply only when certain categories of building work are carried out to existing dwellings, including adding an extension. Guidance issued under Part L sets out a number of energy efficiency provisions, in relation to the performance of the fabric and services of any new extension.
	Where an extension is added onto a building (including a dwelling) and the floor area of the existing building exceeds 1,000m(2) then additional consequential energy efficiency improvements to the existing building may also be required.
	CLG recently consulted on proposals to raise Part L standards in 2010 and plans to publish a summary of responses early in 2010.

Housing: Expenditure

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much his Department and its predecessors spent on housing in each year since 1997-98 expressed in real terms in 2009 prices.

Ian Austin: Data on public expenditure by department and function are published annually in Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses. The latest edition was published in June 2009 (Cm 7630) and includes data from financial year 1997-98 up to and including 2007-08.

Housing: Finance

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much of the £21 million for low-carbon heating systems announced in April has been spent in each region.

Ian Austin: There has been no expenditure as yet under the Low Carbon Infrastructure Fund but contracts are in place to enable allocated monies to be spent this financial year. The regional breakdown of committed expenditure is as follows:
	
		
			   £ million 
			 North East 1.7 
			 Yorkshire and Humber 1 
			 West Midlands 3.88 
			 East Midlands 1.5 
			 South West 3.3 
			 South East 5.77 
			 London 3.5

Housing: Prices

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the average purchase price of a first-time buyer's property was in each year since 1997.

Ian Austin: The average mix-adjusted purchase price of a first-time buyer in each year since 1997 is available on our website at:
	http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/housing/xls/141377.xls.

ICE

David Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what payments  (a) the Fire Service College and  (b) his Department have made to ICE Ltd in each of the last five years; and to which projects these payments relate.

Barbara Follett: The information is as follows:
	 (a) The Fire Service College have made the following payments to ICE Ltd:
	
		
			  Business area: Centre for Leadership  £ 
			 2005 0 
			 2006 20,000 
			 2007 44,000 
			 2008 10,000 
			 2009 0 
		
	
	 (b) The Department has made no payments to ICE Ltd in the last five years.

Litter

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what powers local authorities have in respect of the placing of dog refuse bins and litter bins on unadopted land.

Barbara Follett: holding answer14 December 2009
	 My Department is not responsible for the placement of dog refuse bins and litter bins.

Local Government: Pensions

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what his Department's latest estimate is of the average level of employer contribution as a percentage of the employee's salary made by each administering local authority within the Local Government Pension Scheme.

Barbara Follett: No estimate has been made.

Local Government: Reorganisation

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government with reference to the answer to the hon. Member for Meriden of 16 October 2009,  Official Report, column 1107W, on Atherton Associates, whether Ministers in his Department have met representatives of Atherton Associates in the last 36 months to discuss unitary restructuring.

Barbara Follett: No Minister from this Department has met with Atherton Associates in the last 36 months.

Local Government: Standards

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what mechanisms are used to  (a) collect,  (b) check and  (c) publish statistical data for the purposes of the (i) local spending reports and (b) Total Place initiative.

Barbara Follett: Expenditure data published in local spending reports are official statistics and are collected, checked and published in line with guidelines for such statistics.
	Total Place data are collected and owned by the pilot areas involved on a voluntary basis. CLG has commissioned a report which will summarise and comment on these findings and will be published following agreement of a final draft.

Marinas: Planning Permission

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what planning guidance is in place in relation to building marinas on  (a) protected coastline and  (b) adjoining green belt land.

Ian Austin: There is no planning policy or guidance specific to marinas on protected coastlines or within or adjoining green belt. Our policy on the latter is set out in Planning Policy Guidance Note 2, Green Belts, available on the website:
	www.communities.gov.uk

Mortgages: Repossession Orders

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate he has made of the number of households with a  (a) mortgage and  (b) second-charge loan which have been repossessed in each of the last three years.

Ian Austin: The Department does not collect information on mortgage possessions and arrears although information for the United Kingdom as a whole is published separately by the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) and the Financial Services Authority (FSA).
	The latest CML information is at:
	http://www.cml.org.uk/cml/media/press/2456
	The latest FSA information is at:
	http://www.fsa.gov.uk/Pages/Doing/Regulated/Returns/IRR/statistics/index.shtml

National Policy Statements

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government which documents will have priority in cases where the contents of national policy statements differ from planning policy statements and planning policy guidance notes.

Ian Austin: Where applications for a development consent order are made to the Infrastructure Planning Commission (IPC), decisions will have to be made in accordance with the national policy statement although the IPC may also have regard to other matters which it thinks are both important and relevant. As the primary consideration for the IPC when it makes decisions on applications for development consent, national policy statements will take precedence over planning policy statements and planning policy guidance notes.

Non-Domestic Rates: Churches

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether church buildings which are used for purposes other than religious worship are liable for business rates.

Barbara Follett: As stated in the Local Government Finance Act 1988, if church halls, chapel halls and similar buildings are used only for the purposes of the organisation responsible for the conduct of public religious worship, they are, like the church or place of public religious worship, exempt from business rates.
	However, where the building is also used for other purposes, it may be rated accordingly.

Non-Domestic Rates: Greater London

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government with reference to the answer of 14 October 2009,  Official Report, columns 974W, on non-domestic rates: Greater London, what the title was of the guidance note from which the section on sub-location codes was obtained; and if he will place in the Library a copy of that note.

Barbara Follett: The title of the document is Review of sub-location codes. A copy has been placed in the Library.

Non-Domestic Rates: Public Libraries

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether the operators of mobile libraries are liable for the payment of business rates.

Barbara Follett: Mobile libraries are not rateable. The operational base from which they work may have a liability for rates.

Non-Domestic Rates: Valuation

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what percentage rise in rateable values for an average hereditament from the 2005 Rating List to the draft 2010 rating list would entail a real terms revenue neutral change in business rates based on the 2010-11 standard rating multiplier.

Barbara Follett: The percentage rise in rateable values that would entail a real terms revenue neutral change in business rates based on the 2009-10 and the provisional 2010-11 small business multipliers is 18.2 per cent. This percentage was calculated by setting the Notional Chargeable Amount (NCA) for a given hereditament in 2009-10 equal to the NCA for that hereditament in 2010-11. The NCA is the product between the multiplier for the relevant year and the rateable value (RV) of the hereditament in that same year. This calculation assumes that hereditaments would not be eligible for any relief, i.e. that its bill would coincide with the NCA.
	The five-yearly business rates revaluations make sure each business pays its fair contribution and no more by ensuring the share of the national rates bill paid by any one business reflects changes over time in the value of their property relative to others. The 2010 revaluation will not raise a single extra penny for Government.
	Over a million properties will see their business rate liabilities come down as a result of revaluation. The Government intend to put in place a £2 billion relief scheme to limit the impact on the minority with bill increases. That is on top of the wider support available to help ease business pressures including discounted rate bills for small businesses and deferring tax payments.

Oikos Storage: Canvey Island

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the  (a) maximum and  (b) minimum volume of fuel is which is to be stored at the Oikos terminal for the duration of BP's leasehold contract.

Ian Austin: According to HSE records the current hazardous substances consent for the Oikos terminal is for a maximum of 473,508 cubic metres of highly flammable liquids which may include petroleum and petroleum mixtures (no minimum is specified). This would be approximately 355,131 tonnes of petroleum.

Ordnance Survey

James Arbuthnot: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will make it his policy to provide support to the areas of the mapping sector not accounted for by the operations of Ordnance Survey.

Ian Austin: There are no plans to provide explicit financial support to the mapping sector outside Ordnance Survey.

Ordnance Survey

Mark Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government with reference to the announcement of 17 November 2009 on the Making Public Data Public initiative, when he expects to begin the consultation regarding access to Ordnance Survey data.

Ian Austin: We expect the consultation to be launched during the week beginning 14 December 2009.

Planning

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many requests in each region he has received for planning applications to be called in  (a) under an article 14 declaration and  (b) under section 77 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 in each of the last 10 years; how many of those have been called in; and if he will make a statement.

Ian Austin: The following tables show, by region, the annual number of third party requests for planning applications to be called-in; the number of planning applications referred under section 77 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (TCPA); the number of applications called-in; and the number of article 14 directions issued. Figures before 2002 have been excluded due to potential data inaccuracies.
	The power to call-in any planning application is provided solely by section 77 of the TCPA. An article 14 direction simply prevents a local planning authority from granting permission for a specific proposal.
	
		
			  South  W est region 
			  Number 
			   Third  party requests  All referrals  Called-in  Article 14 
			 2009 6 84 1 7 
			 2008 8 82 5 8 
			 2007 8 75 2 5 
			 2006 33 132 13 11 
			 2005 34 166 14 28 
			 2004 20 184 14 24 
			 2003 5 172 18 32 
			 2002 8 146 7 18 
		
	
	
		
			  South  East  region 
			  Number 
			   Third party requests  All referrals  Called-in  Article 14 
			 2009 21 128 3 4 
			 2008 12 146 6 2 
			 2007 20 171 8 10 
			 2006 17 183 8 8 
			 2005 17 211 18 35 
			 2004 6 178 11 6 
			 2003 19 252 20 40 
			 2002 8 199 19 34 
		
	
	
		
			  East  region 
			  Number 
			   Third party requests  All referrals  Called-in  Article 14 
			 2009 15 65 5 4 
			 2008 43 119 42 8 
			 2007 0 77 5 9 
			 2006 1 92 5 4 
			 2005 1 124 6 21 
			 2004 2 116 2 16 
			 2003 3 169 6 29 
			 2002 9 133 7 27 
		
	
	
		
			  North East  region 
			  Number 
			   Third party requests  All referrals  Called-in  Article 14 
			 2009 9 58 0 5 
			 2008 15 62 2 4 
			 2007 7 68 1 9 
			 2006 14 69 9 4 
			 2005 3 67 6 12 
			 2004 0 68 3 13 
			 2003 3 69 12 13 
			 2002 4 73 5 10 
		
	
	
		
			  London  region 
			  Number 
			   Third party requests  All referrals  Called-in  Article 14 
			 2009 19 88 5 5 
			 2008 18 90 7 7 
			 2007 15 118 4 4 
			 2006 21 111 6 14 
			 2005 27 143 10 29 
			 2004 20 141 11 19 
			 2003 15 117 3 25 
			 2002 24 126 14 30 
		
	
	
		
			  West Midlands  region 
			  Number 
			   Third party requests  All referrals  Called-in  Article 14 
			 2009 7 80 5 5 
			 2008 3 74 7 7 
			 2007 10 121 4 4 
			 2006 15 117 6 14 
			 2005 8 112 10 29 
			 2004 19 138 11 19 
			 2003 8 127 n j 25 
			 2002 18 147 14 30 
		
	
	
		
			  East Midlands  region 
			  Number 
			   Third party requests  All referrals  Called-in  Article 14 
			 2009 5 46 3 5 
			 2008 2 51 0 5 
			 2007 1 59 1 1 
			 2006 3 59 3 7 
			 2005 4 58 5 10 
			 2004 5 75 7 14 
			 2003 8 76 8 9 
			 2002 10 74 7 23 
		
	
	
		
			  Yorkshire and Humber  region 
			  Number 
			  Yorkshire and Humber region  Third party requests  All referrals  Called-in  Article 14 
			 2009 5 78 1 7 
			 2008 3 99 3 16 
			 2007 7 89 0 9 
			 2006 7 108 3 15 
			 2005 3 143 7 37 
			 2004 2 151 3 29 
			 2003 3 176 14 27 
			 2002 5 138 5 24 
		
	
	
		
			  North West  region 
			  Number 
			   Third party requests  All referrals  Called-in  Article 14 
			 2009 0 63 3 7 
			 2008 3 114 6 13 
			 2007 2 82 3 7 
			 2006 7 118 14 24 
			 2005 3 142 9 25 
			 2004 1 163 16 33 
			 2003 1 181 12 29 
			 2002 2 184 16 29

Private Rented Housing: Greater London

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what information his Department holds on the average length of private sector tenancies in each London borough; and what plans he has to improve the security of tenure for private sector tenants.

Ian Austin: Communities and Local Government does not hold the information requested. Most tenants in the private sector have assured shorthold tenancies. The legislation governing these is designed to achieve a fair balance between the rights of landlords and tenants and we have no plans to change this.

Regional Planning and Development

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government by what process planning committee members are appointed to each of the development corporations.

Shahid Malik: There are three Urban Development Corporations (UDCs) in England: London Thames Gateway Development Corporation (LTGDC); Thurrock Thames Gateway Development Corporation (TTGDC); and West Northamptonshire Development Corporation (WNDC). The Planning Committees for the UDCs are appointed in each case by the Board under the terms of the Committee's governing documentation, copies of which are published on the relevant Corporation's website.
	 LTGDC
	http://www.ltgdc.org.uk/PDF/Planning%20committee%20terms%20of%20reference.pdf
	 TTGDC
	Website being upgraded-a copy will be placed in the Library of the House.
	 WNDC
	http://www.wndc.co.uk/about_us/board_meeting_agendas.aspx
	In the case of London Thames Gateway and Thurrock Thames Gateway Development Corporations, the Board may decide to appoint independent members. Where this takes place procedures analogous to those required by the Commissioner for Public Appointments are followed; although such appointments are not OCPA regulated.

Scientists

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government on how many occasions he has met  (a) the Government chief scientific adviser and  (b) his Department's chief scientific adviser in the course of his official duties in the last 12 months.

Barbara Follett: In the last 12 months the Secretary of State has:
	 (a) Not met with the Government chief scientific adviser.
	 (b) Met once with the departmental chief scientific adviser.

Sleeping Rough

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what his most recent estimate is of the number of rough sleepers in  (a) Leeds and  (b) England.

Ian Austin: In 1998 there were estimated to be 1,850 rough sleepers in England with eight rough sleepers in Leeds. Since then good progress has been progress has been made in reducing the total number of rough sleepers to 464 in 2009, based on local authority street counts, which includes six rough sleepers who were found on Leeds' count.

Sleeping Rough

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the estimated level of rough sleeping in England was in March 2001.

Ian Austin: 681 people were estimated to be sleeping rough in England in 2001.
	In 1998 there were estimated to be 1,850 rough sleepers in England. Since then good progress has been made in reducing the number of rough sleepers to a total of 464 in 2009 based on local authority street counts.

Sleeping Rough

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate he has made of the proportion and number of rough sleepers aged 25 years or under.

Ian Austin: The annual headline figure for rough sleeping based on local authority street counts does not include information on age profile.

Sleeping Rough

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many and what proportion of individuals receiving Supporting People grants under the rough sleeper strand were aged  (a) under 18,  (b) under 25 and  (c) under 40 years in each of the last three years.

Ian Austin: The Supporting People programme is a locally managed and delivered programme. Local authorities are responsible for making the strategic decisions regarding the programme including deciding what services to commission to meet local needs and priorities. People who are eligible for Supporting People funding tend to use a service, rather than receive a cashable grant.

Social Rented Housing

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will make it his policy to ensure that social tenants who move to a different local authority area retain their security of tenure in respect of social housing in their new area.

Ian Austin: The Government are committed to ensuring that social tenants, wherever they live in England, continue to have the same statutory protection in respect of their security of tenure and are provided with the most secure form of tenure compatible with the purpose of the housing and the sustainability of the community. We have no intention of bringing forward proposals that would diminish the security which social tenants currently enjoy.

Vacant Land

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Tamworth of 25 November 2009,  Official Report, column 184W, on vacant land: Tamworth, how many acres of green space there are in each local authority in England; and what his Department's definition of green space is.

Barbara Follett: Data on local authority green space from 2005 are publicly available from the Office for National Statistics. These are not comprehensive as there is no requirement for national collection. More accurate and current data could be supplied by individual local authorities. Communities and Local Government do not define green space, but the Annex to PPG 17 provides examples of the broad range of open spaces that may be of public value, a significant component of which, are related to green spaces.

SOLICITOR-GENERAL

Crown Prosecution Service: Conferences

Graham Stuart: To ask the Solicitor-General how many  (a) away days and  (b) conferences that took place outside the Crown Prosecution Service's (CPS) buildings attended by civil servants in the CPS there have been since 2005; and what the cost was of each.

Vera Baird: The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is a devolved organisation and local managers are responsible for arranging away days and conferences. Information on the number of each that took place outside CPS buildings attended by civil servants is not recorded centrally. To obtain the information requested would require all managers to review records since 2005 and would incur disproportionate cost. The following table provides the total value recorded for conference expenditure in each financial year since 2005.
	
		
			  CPS conference expenditure  £ million 
			 2005-06 0.85 
			 2006-07 1.05 
			 2007-08 0.68 
			 2008-09 0.67 
		
	
	The CPS does hold Senior Managers' Conferences each year, which bring 150 of its senior managers from all 42 areas and senior headquarters (HQ) staff together to discuss the most pressing issues facing the Service. In past years this has been held twice a year; a decision was taken in 2009 to reduce the frequency to one per year.
	The following table shows the average cost of each conference each year since 2005.
	
		
			  CPS conference expenditure senior management conferences  Average cost  ( £000 ) 
			 2005-06 93 
			 2006-07 112 
			 2007-08 128 
			 2008-09 75

Departmental Conferences

Graham Stuart: To ask the Solicitor-General how many  (a) away days and  (b) conferences that took place outside the Law Officers' buildings attended by civil servants in the Law Officers' Department there have been since 2005; and what the cost was of each.

Vera Baird: The information requested is outlined in the following tables.
	
		
			  (a) Departmental away days 
			   Number of away days  Cost (£) 
			 2005-06 0 0 
			 2006-07 0 0 
			 2007-08 0 0 
			 2008-09 1 (1)3,249.79 
			 2009-10 3 (1)5,710.50 
			   (2)515.00 
			   (3)488.73 
			 (1) Whole office. (2) Whole office half day. (3) Senior management team, half day. 
		
	
	
		
			  (b) Conferences outside the Law Officers' buildings attended by civil servants 
			   Number of conferences  Cost (£) 
			 2005-06 9 2,816.70 
			 2006-07 4 2,026.39 
			 2007-08 5 1,815.23 
			 2008-09 9 3,437.20 
			 2009-10 4 1,752.70

Departmental Energy

Grant Shapps: To ask the Solicitor-General what the energy  (a) rating and  (b) band of each building occupied by the Law Officers' Departments was in each year for which figures are available.

Vera Baird: The information requested is published by the Office of Government Commerce and is available online at the following website address:
	http://www.ogc.gov.uk/government_delivery_ display_energy_certificate_data.asp
	The OGC Centre of Expertise in Sustainable Procurement has committed to publish a summary of DEC ratings for the Government estate every six months.
	The Treasury Solicitor's Department does not currently possess an energy rating.
	HMCPSI's organisation is too small to come under the DECs (Display Energy Certificates) scheme. This only applies to buildings over 1,000 m2 which HMCPSI does not fall under.

Departmental Plants

Grant Shapps: To ask the Solicitor-General how much the Law Officers' Departments spent on  (a) cut flowers and  (b) pot plants in 2008-09.

Vera Baird: The Attorney-General's Office spent £37.90 on cut flowers in 2008-09 for the reception area. There was no spend on pot plants.
	The Treasury Solicitor's Department has not spent any money on  (a) cut flowers and  (b) pot plants in 2008-09.
	The Revenue and Customs Prosecutions Office is a minor occupier in buildings owned by HM Revenue and Customs and receives a fully managed estate service from that department. This includes the responsibility for provision and maintenance of floor standing plants within the office environment, the costs for which cannot be separately identified. No monies have been spent on the provision of cut flowers.
	The National Fraud Authority and HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate has not made any payments for cut flowers or pot plants in 2008-09.
	The Crown Prosecution Service is a devolved organisation. The Department has not kept central records of expenditure on cut flowers and pot plants in 2008-09. To provide this information would involve checking paper records across the CPS and would incur disproportionate costs.
	The Serious Fraud Office has spent £2,340.00 (excluding VAT) on flowers and £2,765.36 (excluding VAT) on maintenance of pot plants in 2008-09. No new pot plants were purchased in 2008-09.

Departmental Written Questions

Mark Harper: To ask the Solicitor-General how many and what percentage of parliamentary questions tabled for written answer by her on a named day in session 2008-09 received a substantive answer on that day.

Vera Baird: Of the 29 named day questions tabled to my Department in the 2008-09 parliamentary session, 28 per cent. or 96 per cent. of them were answered on the day nominated by questioners.

Hotels

Anne Main: To ask the Solicitor-General 
	(1)  how much the Law Officers' Departments spent on hotel accommodation for  (a) Ministers,  (b) special advisers and  (c) civil servants in each of the last five years;
	(2)  how much the Crown Prosecution Service has spent on hotel accommodation for its officials in each of the last five years;
	(3)  how much the Revenue and Customs Prosecutions Office has spent on hotel accommodation for its staff in each of the last five years;
	(4)  how much the Serious Fraud Office has spent on hotel accommodation for its staff in each of the last five years.

Vera Baird: The information requested for the Law Officers' Departments is contained in the following table.
	
		
			  £ 
			  Law Officer Department  2004-05  2005-06  2006-07  2007-08  2008-09 
			 AGO, TSOL(1), HMCPSI 51,359 44,036 56,699 51,948 27,848 
			 SFO(2) 142,224 166,838 202,592 243,118 119,639 
			 CPS(3) 1,130,000 1,175,000 1,447,000 1,260,000 1,248,000 
			 NFA(4) - - - - 654 
			 RCPO(5) - 58,924 122,585 87,045 44,154 
			 (1) Information for the Attorney-General's Office, HM Crown Prosecution Inspectorate and Treasury Solicitors (TSOL) is collated centrally by TSOL. In addition, officials from TSOL incur hotel expenses when working on client cases. These costs are not accounted for separately from other client disbursements and therefore the cost of providing this information would be disproportionate. However, since April 2009 these costs have been captured through Carlson Wagonlit and the year to date hotel expenditure recorded on case-related stays is £73,220. (2) The Serious Fraud Office's spend on hotel accommodation by financial year include any hotel expenditure for permanent staff; non-permanent staff and non-Executive board members. (3) The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) does not record expenditure on hotel accommodation, reimbursement of meals and other incidental overnight expenses separately. To provide a detailed breakdown would involve checking paper records across the CPS and would incur disproportionate costs. (4) The costs given relate to the accommodation costs incurred during the NFA launch in 2008-09. (5) In its first year, 2005-06, Revenue and Customs Prosecutions Office (RCPO) did not account separately for expenditure on hotel accommodation and providing a detailed breakdown would incur a disproportionate cost. 
		
	
	The Law Officers' Departments do not have any special advisers. Furthermore, ministerial hotel costs are not recorded separately from those of civil servants and it is therefore not possible to provide information on these matters without incurring a disproportionate cost. However, details on the cost of overseas trips made by departmental Ministers are published annually by the Cabinet Office. These can be accessed at:
	http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/propriety_and_ethics/ministers/travel_gifts.aspx
	The list for 2008-09 was published on 16 July. This and earlier lists are available in the Library of the House.

TREASURY

Mutual Building Societies

Paul Rowen: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps his Department is taking to assist mutual building societies during the recession.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: Government have taken, and will continue to take, steps to promote competition and consumer choice through supporting the development of a strong, competitive and sustainable building society sector. Government are facilitating discussions on funding and capital, with the objective of strengthening the robustness of the mutual building society model, and enhancing their provision of mortgages to home buyers. Government will continue to ensure their actions are in taxpayers' interests.

Banks: Government Support

Julian Brazier: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what response his Department plans to make to the National Audit Office report on the Government's support for banks; and if he will make a statement.

Ian Pearson: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Southend, West (Mr. Amess) today.

Budget 2009

Laura Moffatt: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent assessment he has made of the effect on the economy of the fiscal measures to help businesses he announced in Budget 2009.

Ian Pearson: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer earlier today to the hon. Members for Halton (Derek Twigg) and Ochil and South Perthshire (Gordon Banks).

International Finance Facility for Immunisation

John Robertson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what discussions he has had with his international counterparts on financial support for the International Finance Facility for Immunisation; and if he will make a statement.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: Treasury Ministers and officials have meetings with a range of international counterparts as part of the process of policy development and delivery. As was the case with previous Administrations, it is not the Government's practice to provide details of all such meetings.
	In September the Prime Minister announced a £600 million expansion of the International Finance Facility for Immunisation, with the UK contributing £250million, this expansion will support health systems in developing countries.

Comprehensive Spending Review

Graham Allen: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he expects to announce the timetable for the next comprehensive spending review; and if he will make a statement.

Liam Byrne: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer my right hon. Friend gave the hon. Member for Putney (Justine Greening) earlier today.

Child Tax Credit

David Crausby: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people in the UK are  (a) eligible for and  (b) in receipt of child tax credit.

Stephen Timms: Estimates of the number of households eligible for child tax credit in 2006-07, which are the latest available, are provided in table 1 of the HM Revenue and Customs publication Child and Working Tax Credit Take-up rates 2006-07. This publication is available at:
	http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/personal-tax-credits/cwtc-take-up2006-07.pdf
	The latest information on the number of households receiving child tax credit is available in the HMRC snapshot publication Child and Working Tax Credits Statistics. April 2009. This can be found at:
	http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/personal-tax-credits/cwtc-apr09.pdf

Departmental Pay

Lee Scott: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much has been paid in bonuses to civil servants in his Department in each year since 2007.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: Information on spending on performance and special bonuses since 2007-08 is shown in table 4.D of the 2008-09 Annual Report and Accounts (HC 611) available from:
	www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/annual_report09.htm

Employee Benefit Trusts

Vincent Cable: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many interest-free loans have been made from employee benefit trusts in each of the last five years.

Stephen Timms: HM Revenue and Customs do not keep a record of the number of loans taken from employee benefit trusts (EBTs). It is known that many loans are taken from EBTs by employees, some on an interest free basis and some on an interest bearing basis. Where loans are taken on an interest free basis the employee is liable to a tax charge on the benefit arising (s.175 ITEPA 2003).

Financial Services and Markets Act 2000

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if his Department will bring forward proposals to extend the provisions of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 to include company registrars as bodies which may be investigated and regulated by the Financial Services Authority and the Financial Services Ombudsman.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The Government keep under review those activities which are subject to regulation. At this time we have no plans to include company registrars within the regulatory framework. Whenever the Government plan any changes to the scope of regulation this will generally be subject to public consultation.

Income Tax Personal Allowance

Danny Alexander: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent representations he has received on the levels of income tax personal allowance; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Timms: Treasury Ministers and officials receive representations from a wide range of organisations and individuals in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery. As was the case with previous Administrations, it is not the Government's practice to provide details of all such representations.
	The personal allowance and the age related allowance will be maintained at their current level, providing a real-terms benefit relative to September's retail price index.

National Insurance Contributions

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much national insurance a person earning the national average wage paid in 1997; and if he will estimate how much it will be in 2010.

Stephen Timms: holding answer 14 December 2009
	The annual amount of primary class 1 national insurance contributions for individuals earning the average weekly wage for 1996-97 and 2009-10 can be found in the following table:
	
		
			   Gross weekly wage (£)  Annual Class 1 NICS (£)  Percentage of income paid as NICS 
			 1996-97 359.60 1,616.16 8.6 
			 2009-10 590.70 2,749.60 9.0

Non-Domestic Rates: Microgeneration

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many hereditaments which benefited from the exemption for microgeneration plant and machinery in respect of non-domestic rates valuation from 2008 to 2010 have had that equipment valued and rated as part of the 2010 rates revaluation.

Ian Pearson: The information requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Taxation: Banks

Peter Bone: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will bring forward proposals to disallow losses made by banks for the purpose of calculating corporation tax.

Stephen Timms: holding answer 14 December 2009
	The Government keep all taxes under review.

Unemployment: Young People

Natascha Engel: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent representations he has received on the effects on the economy of the level of youth unemployment.

Ian Pearson: Treasury Ministers and officials receive representations from a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery.
	The Government are taking decisive action to ensure that young people are supported through the recession. This action will ensure that we avoid the long-term detachment of young people from the labour market.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission: ICT

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission (CMEC) plans to replace the computer systems in operation at the Child Support Agency and CMEC; and if she will make a statement.

Helen Goodman: holding answer 7 December 2009
	The Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission is responsible for the child maintenance system. I have asked the Child Maintenance Commissioner to write to the hon. Member with the information requested and I have seen the response.
	 Letter from Stephen Geraghty:
	In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission, the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Child Maintenance Commissioner.
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission (CMEC) plans to replace the computer systems in operation at the Child Support Agency and the CMEC; and if she will make a statement.
	The Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission (the Commission) was established under the Child Maintenance and other Payments Act 2008 to deliver a fundamental redesign of the child maintenance system following previous failed attempts to reform existing schemes and work is now underway on the development of a new child maintenance scheme. In November 2008 responsibility for the existing two statutory child maintenance schemes transferred from the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions to the Commission. The Commission continues to deliver the two existing schemes through a division operating under the CSA brand name.
	In late 2008 the Commission undertook a feasibility study to determine the most appropriate IT solution to support the future scheme. The study recommended that the current computer system (CS2) be replaced, and a new system be developed using a set of integrated commercial off-the-shelf products. In March 2009 the Commission agreed a contract with Tata Consulting Services (TCS) for the creation of this new IT system. Work on the new computer system is currently in the development phase.
	The current IT systems will continue to be used to process the existing cases and will remain in place until the existing schemes close, currently planned around 2014.
	I hope you find this answer helpful.

Child Rearing

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent steps her Department has taken to provide financial assistance to relatives and friends who care for children who would otherwise have been taken into care.

Helen Goodman: Most benefits for children are administered by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC); this includes child benefit, guardian's allowance, and child tax credits.
	Income support is available to single people who have responsibility for a child under the age of 10. A single relative or friend may therefore be eligible for income support if they are responsible for a child who would otherwise have been taken into care. Income support can also be paid where a child under age 16 is placed with a single person under fostering arrangements or prior to adoption.
	Income support is also available to people, whether single or not, who are temporarily looking after a child out of necessity because that child's parent or guardian is either ill or absent from home.
	Customers who are responsible for a dependent and are in receipt of pension credit may be eligible for one or more of the HMRC-administered benefits, none of which are taken into account as income for pension credit purposes.
	If the customer qualifies for carer's allowance for looking after a disabled child they could receive an additional amount for caring.
	Where a child is being looked after by a local authority and placed with a relative or friend, the financial assistance in respect of that child is the responsibility of the local authority.

Children: Maintenance

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions with reference to the answer of 18 March 2009,  Official Report, column 1202W, on the child maintenance options helpline, what the equivalent figures to those provided in the Table are for each month from January 2009.

Helen Goodman: The Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission is responsible for the child maintenance system. I have asked the Child Maintenance Commissioner to write to the hon. Member with the information requested and I have seen the response.
	 Letter from Stephen Geraghty:
	In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission, the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Child Maintenance Commissioner.
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions with reference to the Answer of 18 March 2009 Official Report column 1202W on the child maintenance options helpline what the equivalent figures to those provided in the Table are for each month from January 2009.
	The information you requested is provided in the table below. This excludes information on the average time to answer calls as previously included in the answer of 18 March 2009 Official Report column 1202W. This measure has been replaced with a Client Standard whereby 90.0% of calls will be answered within 30 seconds. This information has been included in the table below as a percentage of calls answered.
	I hope you find this answer helpful.
	
		
			  Child Maintenance Options 2009 
			   Jan  Feb  Mar  Apr  May  Jun  Jul  Aug  Sept 
			 Calls received(1,2) 6,400 6,300 6,900 6,300 7,800 7,500 11,300 8,400 13,300 
			 Calls answered(1) 6,200 6,100 6,700 6,100 7,700 7,400 10,900 8,200 13,000 
			 Calls abandoned(3,4) 140 190 180 195 180 170 360 220 365 
			 Calls abandoned as a percentage of calls received 2 3 3 3 2 2 3 3 3 
			 Percentage of calls answered within 30 seconds (excludes those abandoned) 100 99.2 98.6 99.6 99.7 99.5 99.1 99.8 97.2 
			 Average duration of inbound calls(3,5) (seconds) 430 525 515 470 470 545 530 585 615 
			 (1) Figures for the calls received and the number of calls answered are rounded to the nearest 100. (2) Calls received exclude those outside working hours. (3) Figures for the number of calls abandoned and the average duration of inbound calls are rounded to the nearest five. (4) Calls abandoned are those who have listened to the initial greeting and then: have had a short call and hung up while speaking to an agent; have hung up before speaking to an agent; or have hung up while in a queue. (5) Duration of call includes time spent talking to customers and wrapping up the call.

Cold Weather Payments: Derbyshire

Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many cold weather payments have been made in respect of households in  (a) Chesterfield and  (b) Derbyshire in 2008-09.

Helen Goodman: The available information is that Chesterfield parliamentary constituency was linked to Nottingham weather station and Derbyshire county was linked to Nottingham, Bingley and Woodford weather stations in the winter of 2008-09.
	The following table shows the number of triggers received at the three weather stations in the winter of 2008-09.
	
		
			  Weather station  Number of triggers in 2008-09 
			 Nottingham 2 
			 Bingley 3 
			 Woodford 4 
			  Source: DWP Records 
		
	
	It is not possible to give the estimated number of payments made in 2008-09 to residents of Chesterfield or Derbyshire county as this information is not available at constituency level or county level but only by weather station. Generally the areas linked to weather stations do not coincide with a constituency or county.

Crisis Loans

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much and what proportion of social fund crisis loan expenditure was spent on alignment payments in each quarter since 2007.

Helen Goodman: The available information is given in the table.
	
		
			  Alignment payment expenditure in Great Britain by quarter 
			  Quarter  £ million  Proportion of total crisis loan expenditure (percentage) 
			  2007   
			 January to March 8.7 33.3 
			 April to June 9.8 36.3 
			 July to September 11.8 39.3 
			 October to December 11.3 37.3 
			
			  2008   
			 January to March 11.4 34.6 
			 April to June 12.1 34.4 
			 July to September 13.4 34.6 
			 October to December 14.3 33.5 
			
			  2009   
			 January to March 15.4 31.0 
			  Source: DWP Social Fund Policy, Budget and Management Information System

Departmental Conferences

John Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions which conferences held overseas have been attended by civil servants based in her Department in the last three years; and what the cost to the public purse was of such attendance at each conference.

Angela Eagle: As part of their duties, DWP officials may attend international conferences held overseas in pursuance of their departmental work and to represent the UK's interests. No central records are held on attendance by officials at conferences held overseas.

Disability Living Allowance

Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people resident in  (a) Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey constituency,  (b) the Highlands and  (c) Scotland received the (i) mobility component, (ii) care component and (iii) both the mobility and the care components of the disability living allowance in each of the last five years.  [Official Report, 9 February 2010, Vol. 505, c. 5-8MC.]

Jonathan R Shaw: The available information is in the following tables.
	
		
			  Disability living allowance cases in payment for the Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey parliamentary constituency for each of the last five years, as at May of each year 
			  May each year 
			   2005  2006  2007  2008  2009 
			 Total 4,300 4,460 4,540 4,710 4,960 
			   
			 Higher care and higher mobility 720 750 790 830 840 
			 Higher care and lower mobility 360 380 380 400 420 
			 Higher care only 60 60 70 80 80 
			 Middle care and higher mobility 600 620 650 670 700 
			 Middle care and lower mobility 770 820 850 880 960 
			 Middle care only 150 160 150 150 170 
			   
			 Lower care and higher mobility 430 430 430 450 480 
			 Lower care and lower mobility 370 380 400 420 430 
			 Lower care only 250 280 270 290 320 
			   
			 Higher mobility only 480 480 460 450 460 
			   
			 Lower mobility only 100 100 90 100 100 
			  Notes: 1 Caseload figures are rounded to the nearest 10. Totals may not sum due to rounding. 2. Figures show the number of people in receipt of an allowance, and exclude people with entitlement where the payment has been suspended, for example if they are in hospital. 3. The postcode of a claimant is used to assign the parliamentary constituency, local authority and government office region. Local authorities are assigned by matching postcodes against the relevant postcode directory.  Source: NOMIS 
		
	
	
		
			  Disability living allowance cases in payment for the highland local authority for each of the last five years, as at May of each year 
			  May each year 
			   2005  2006  2007  2008  2009 
			 Total 10,270 10,590 10,830 11,250 11,740 
			   
			 Higher care and higher mobility 1,790 1,880 1,980 2,050 2,100 
			 Higher care and lower mobility 680 710 740 770 810 
			 Higher care only 160 160 170 190 180 
			   
			 Middle care and higher mobility 1,570 1,620 1,680 1,730 1,830 
			 Middle care and lower mobility 1,640 1,710 1,800 1,890 2,010 
			 Middle care only 400 410 380 390 410 
			   
			 Lower care and higher mobility 1,140 1,140 1,150 1,230 1,300 
			 Lower care and lower mobility 710 750 800 830 870 
			 Lower care only 660 690 680 710 780 
			   
			 Higher mobility only 1,320 1,300 1,250 1,260 1,250 
			   
			 Lower mobility only 210 210 200 200 210 
			  Notes: 1 Caseload figures are rounded to the nearest 10. Totals may not sum due to rounding. 2. Figures show the number of people in receipt of an allowance, and exclude people with entitlement where the payment has been suspended, for example if they are in hospital. 3. The Highlands region is defined as the local authority of the claimant. The postcode of a claimant is used to assign the parliamentary constituency, local authority and government office region. Local authorities are assigned by matching postcodes against the relevant postcode directory.  Source: NOMIS 
		
	
	
		
			  Disability living allowance cases in payment in Scotland for each of the last five years, as at May of each year 
			  May each year 
			   2005  2006  2007  2008  2009 
			 Total 303,990 311,000 318,090 327,310 337,270 
			   
			 Higher care and higher mobility 52,140 53,810 56,560 58,890 60,410 
			 Higher care and lower mobility 17,440 18,160 19,130 20,230 21,360 
			 Higher care only 3,730 3,740 3,610 3,760 3,800 
			   
			 Middle care and higher mobility 49,570 50,680 52,310 53,890 55,260 
			 Middle care and lower mobility 41,670 44,320 46,670 48,910 51,740 
			 Middle care only 10,440 10,510 10,170 10,110 10,270 
			   
			 Lower care and higher mobility 37,270 37,550 37,880 38,550 39,600 
			 Lower care and lower mobility 17,840 19,230 20,490 22,330 24,230 
			 Lower care only 20,040 20,560 20,810 21,580 22,680 
			   
			 Higher mobility only 46,760 45,240 43,140 41,520 40,060 
			   
			 Lower mobility only 7,060 7,220 7,320 7,540 7,870 
			  Notes: 1 Caseload figures are rounded to the nearest 10. Totals may not sum due to rounding. 2. Figures show the number of people in receipt of an allowance, and exclude people with entitlement where the payment has been suspended, for example if they are in hospital. 3. The postcode of a claimant is used to assign the parliamentary constituency, local authority and government office region. Local authorities are assigned by matching postcodes against the relevant postcode directory.  Source: NOMIS

Housing Benefit

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when she expects to publish her proposals on the future of housing benefit.

Helen Goodman: As set out in the pre-Budget report, the Government intend to launch an immediate consultation on housing benefit reform.

Housing Benefit: Islington

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what average amount of housing benefit was paid to claimants who are  (a) local authority,  (b) housing association and  (c) private sector tenants in the London borough of Islington in each of the last three years.

Helen Goodman: The available information is in the tables.
	
		
			  Average amount of weekly housing benefit by tenure: London borough of Islington as at August 2007 
			   £ 
			 Local authority (council) tenants 85.34 
			 Housing association tenants 99.68 
			 Private sector tenants 141.71 
			  Notes: 1. The data refers to benefit units, which may be a single person or a couple. 2. The figures have been rounded to the nearest penny.  Source: Housing benefit and council tax benefit management information system quarterly 100 per cent. taken in August 2007. 
		
	
	
		
			  Average amount of weekly housing benefit by tenure: London borough of Islington, as at November 2008 and August 2009 
			  £ 
			   November 2008  August 2009 
			 Local authority (council) tenants 82.79 86.40 
			 Housing association tenants 104.10 109.33 
			 Private sector tenants 169.81 184.32 
			  Notes: 1. The data refers to benefit units, which may be a single person or a couple. 2. The figures have been rounded to the nearest penny.  Source: Single housing benefit extract (SHBE) taken in November 2008 and August 2009.

Housing Benefit: Islington

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what information her Department holds on the average amount of housing benefit paid to those in receipt of jobseeker's allowance in the London borough of Islington.

Helen Goodman: The most recent available information is that, as at August 2009, the Average amount of weekly housing benefit paid to recipients of jobseeker's allowance in the London borough of Islington was £115.83.
	 Notes:
	1. The data refer to benefit units, which may be a single person or a couple.
	2. The figure has been rounded to the nearest penny.
	 Source:
	Single housing benefit extract (SHBE) taken in August 2009.

Jobseeker's Allowance

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many and what proportion of claimants of jobseeker's allowance were aged  (a) under 21,  (b) 22 to 25,  (c) 26 to 30,  (d) 31 to 35,  (e) 36 to 40,  (f) 41 to 45,  (g) 46 to 50,  (h) 51 to 55,  (i) 56 to 60 and  (j) over 60 years old in each month since January 2005; and if she will make a statement.

Angela Smith: I have been asked to reply.
	The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	 Letter from Jil Matheson, dated December 2009:
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, asking how many and what proportion of claimants of jobseeker's allowance were aged (a) under 21, (b) 22 to 25, (c) 26 to 30, (d) 31 to 35, (e) 36 to 40, (f) 41 to 45, (g) 46 to 50, (h) 51 to 55, (i) 56 to 60 and (j) over 60 years old in each month since January 2005; and if the Secretary of State will make a statement. (307152).
	The Office for National Statistics (ONS) compiles the number of claimants of Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) from the Jobcentre Plus administrative system. Table 1 shows the number of persons aged (a) under 20, (b) 20 to 24, (c) 25 to 29, (d) 30 to 34, (e) 35 to 39, (f) 40 to 44, (g) 45 to 49, (h) 50 to 54, (i) 55 to 59 and (j) 60 and over who were claiming JSA in each month since January 2005. Table 2 shows the proportion of total claimants of JSA by each of these age groups in each month since January 2005. These are our standard age ranges. I am sorry that the data can not be presented for the age groups requested.
	National and local area estimates for many labour market statistics, including employment, unemployment and claimant count are available on the Nomis website at:
	http://www.nomisweb.co.uk
	
		
			  Table 1: Number of persons claiming Jobseeker's Allowance by age group 
			   Under 20  Aged 20-24  Aged 25-29  Aged 30-34  Aged 35-39  Aged 40-44  Aged 45-49  Aged 50-54  Aged 55-59  Aged 60 and over 
			 January 2005 98,660 155,795 111,830 101,485 94,200 85,650 70,985 68,735 67,110 9,365 
			 February 2005 106,730 160,615 112,900 101,125 94,555 85,810 71,120 68,470 66,490 9,170 
			 March 2005 108,020 160,770 112,260 100,395 94,105 85,505 70,925 67 755 66,025 8,840 
			 April 2005 105,885 157,845 110,935 98,865 93,230 84,965 70,850 67,550 65,925 8,410 
			 May 2005 103,860 155,430 110,355 98,025 93,215 85,485 71,640 67,880 65,485 8,525 
			 June 2005 101,110 151,870 109,705 96,550 92,560 84,555 71,090 67,160 66,050 8,255 
			 July 2005 103,705 164,850 111,520 96,760 92,185 84,255 70,990 66,645 65,105 8,210 
			 August 2005 105,820 170,175 112,900 97,005 92,395 84,300 71,205 66,785 65,500 8,150 
			 September 2005 103,940 107,705 111,205 95,830 91,465 84,225 71,155 66,210 65,270 7,920 
			 October 2005 103,980 162,445 110,385 94,695 91,265 84,590 71,355 66,300 65,615 7,940 
			 November 2005 103,835 162,255 112,055 96,035 92,560 86,070 72,980 67,915 67,510 8,350 
			 December 2005 105,280 164,960 115,565 98,020 94,740 87,020 74,670 68,790 68,640 8,630 
			 January 2006 111,785 178,165 123,610 104,340 101,045 93,610 80,610 73,365 73,105 9,655 
			 February 2006 121,270 185,985 126,575 105,945 102,610 95,770 82,280 74,805 74,280 9,650 
			 March 2006 124,090 187,265 126,780 105,435 102,955 95,815 82,545 74,605 74,480 9,535 
			 April 2006 121,830 184,585 125,455 104,960 102,050 95,485 82,760 74,735 74,515 9,550 
			 May 2006 118,050 179,580 123,780 103,575 101,210 95,095 82,105 74,515 73,620 9,380 
			 June 2006 114,515 177,190 122,775 102,145 100,240 94,475 81,210 73,645 72,615 9,130 
			 July 2006 116,195 186,090 123,940 101,910 99,460 93,995 80,615 72,925 72,085 8,925 
			 August 2006 116,475 189,220 123,920 100,705 98,290 93,165 79,900 72,450 71,405 8,720 
			 September 2006 117,550 185,930 122,450 99,820 97,715 92,920 79,655 72,110 71,305 8,685 
			 October 2006 113,685 178,145 120,080 98,020 96,255 91,970 79,220 71,765 70,995 8,700 
			 November 2006 110,450 172,785 119,320 97,280 95,810 91,530 78,960 71,810 70,770 8,865 
			 December 2006 110,185 172,015 120,645 97,340 95,855 92,070 79,665 71,835 70,560 8,900 
			 January 2007 113,680 181,495 125,975 101,280 99,795 96,105 83,775 75,355 73,600 9,610 
			 February 2007 119,515 186 ,600 127,655 101,090 99,495 95,985 83,650 74,720 72,650 9,345 
			 March 2007 118,140 183,260 125,760 98,635 97,350 94,130 81,590 73,155 71,065 9,000 
			 April 2007 110,725 173,770 121,300 94,695 94,030 91,165 79,595 71,570 69,280 8,640 
			 May 2007 105,675 167,685 117,865 91,810 91,150 88,605 77,595 70,040 66,795 8,265 
			 June 2007 98,840 162,255 114,240 88,385 83,120 85,640 75,015 67,625 64,230 7,710 
			 July 2007 98,855 168,285 114,180 87,345 86,580 84,325 73,665 66,570 63,190 7,515 
			 August 2007 99,175 173,010 115,315 87,080 85,940 83,520 73,560 66,115 62,475 7,365 
			 September 2007 99,420 165,155 110,970 83,650 83,735 81,075 71,690 63,500 59,660 6,750 
			 October 2007 94,850 155,500 107,725 81,305 81,865 79,540 70,475 62,315 58,060 6,830 
			 November 2007 91,070 150,110 106,415 80,135 81,025 78,900 70,210 61,305 56,740 6,880 
			 December 2007 91,750 151,540 108,565 80,965 81,700 79,670 70,565 60,555 55,220 6,890 
			 January 2008 93,635 160,805 114,515 84,655 85,665 84,455 74,805 63,800 57,900 7,570 
			 February 2008 100,330 168,810 117,150 85,550 86,420 84,650 75,190 63,660 56,715 7,420 
			 March 2008 100,255 168,130 116,135 84,755 85,560 84,100 74,785 63,005 55,770 7,240 
			 April 2008 96,705 164,620 115,355 84,460 85,395 84,320 75,115 63,460 55,800 7,255 
			 May 2008 94,330 162,900 115,285 84,275 85,400 84,540 75,455 63,780 55,680 7,230 
			 June 2008 91,725 164,995 116,385 84,445 85,440 84,945 75,970 63,745 55,935 7,235 
			 July 2008 90,200 179,845 121,420 87,200 87,975 87,070 77,720 65,170 57,450 7,775 
			 August 2008 102,340 196,880 129,365 91,585 91,775 90,505 81,755 68,185 60,080 8,380 
			 September 2008 108,270 198,335 131,540 93,310 94,000 93,055 83,855 69,455 61,105 8,605 
			 October 2008 109,050 198,915 135,690 96,460 97,155 96,680 87,385 72,535 63,750 9,500 
			 November 2008 114,895 213,970 149,120 105,740 106,430 106,220 95,790 79,605 69,815 11,395 
			 December 2008 123,230 232,045 164,125 116,445 116,510 116,850 105,075 86,750 75,440 13,225 
			 January 2009 130,490 256,300 181,630 129,860 130,305 131,630 119,115 98,795 84,550 16,205 
			 February 2009 153,585 298,255 207,820 146,150 146,360 147,720 133,410 110,590 93,220 18,500 
			 March 2009 159,945 309,675 217,255 152,775 152,725 154,235 139,955 115,115 97,220 19,640 
			 April 2009 156,725 310,945 221,145 157,215 157,995 159,960 145,885 119,750 100,720 20,550 
			 May 2009 155,020 307,210 221,805 158,580 160,795 163,490 149,175 121,785 101,605 20,635 
			 June 2009 151,185 305,945 219,735 157,880 159,825 162,735 149,070 121,135 100,670 20,085 
			 July 2009 154,795 322,150 221,435 157,705 159,775 162,695 148,860 120,520 100,245 19,710 
			 August 2009 159,040 338,235 223,955 158,995 160,860 164,110 150,265 121,255 100,720 19,460 
			 September 2009 162,255 332,210 219,845 157,200 160,875 164,465 150,635 120,550 99,010 18,695 
			 October 2009 160,860 324,915 217,240 156,905 160,930 165,000 151,955 121,355 99,365 18,410 
			  Note: Data rounded to nearest 5 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2: Proportion of total claimants of Jobseeker's Allowance by age group 
			  Percentage 
			   Under 20  Aged 20-24  Aged 25-29  Aged 30-34  Aged 35-39  Aged 40-44  Aged 45-49  Aged 50-54  Aged 55-59  Aged 60 and over 
			 January 2005 13 20 15 13 12 11 9 9 9 1 
			 February 2005 14 21 15 13 12 11 9 9 9 1 
			 March 2005 14 21 15 13 12 11 9 9 9 1 
			 April 2005 14 21 15 13 12 11 9 9 9 1 
			 May 2005 14 21 15 13 12 11 9 9 9 1 
			 June 2005 13 21 15 13 12 11 9 9 9 1 
			 July 2005 14 22 15 13 12 11 9 9 9 1 
			 August 2005 14 22 15 13 12 11 9 9 9 1 
			 September 2005 14 22 15 13 12 11 9 9 9 1 
			 October 2005 14 22 15 13 12 11 9 9 9 1 
			 November 2005 14 21 15 13 12 11 10 9 9 1 
			 December 2005 13 21 15 13 12 11 10 9 9 1 
			 January 2006 13 21 15 12 12 11 10 9 9 1 
			 February 2006 14 22 15 12 12 11 10 9 9 1 
			 March 2006 14 22 15 12 12 11 10 9 9 1 
			 April 2006 14 22 15 12 12 11 10 9 9 1 
			 May 2006 14 21 15 12 12 11 10 9 9 1 
			 June 2006 14 21 15 12 12 11 10 9 9 1 
			 July 2006 14 22 15 12 12 11 10 9 9 1 
			 August 2006 14 23 15 12 12 11 10 9 9 1 
			 September 2006 14 22 15 12 12 11 10 9 9 1 
			 October 2006 14 22 15 12 12 11 10 9 9 1 
			 November 2006 14 21 15 12 12 11 10 9 9 1 
			 December 2006 14 21 15 12 12 11 10 9 9 1 
			 January 2007 13 21 15 12 12 11 10 9 9 1 
			 February 2007 14 22 15 12 12 11 10 9 9 1 
			 March 2007 14 22 15 12 12 11 10 9 9 1 
			 April 2007 14 22 15 12 12 11 10 9 9 1 
			 May 2007 14 22 15 12 1? 11 10 9 9 1 
			 June 2007 13 22 15 12 12 11 10 9 9 1 
			 July 2007 13 22 15 12 12 11 10 9 8 1 
			 August 2007 13 23 15 12 11 11 10 9 8 1 
			 September 2007 14 23 15 12 12 11 10 9 8 1 
			 October 2007 13 22 15 12 12 11 10 9 8 1 
			 November 2007 13 22 15 12 12 11 10 9 8 1 
			 December 2007 13 22 16 12 12 11 10 9 8 1 
			 January 2008 13 22 16 12 12 12 10 9 8 1 
			 February 2008 13 23 16 11 12 11 10 9 8 1 
			 March 2008 14 23 16 11 12 11 10 9 8 1 
			 April 2008 13 22 16 11 12 11 10 9 8 1 
			 May 2008 13 22 16 11 12 12 10 9 8 1 
			 June 2008 12 22 16 11 12 11 10 9 8 1 
			 July 2008 12 23 16 11 11 11 10 8 7 1 
			 August 2008 13 24 16 11 11 11 10 8 7 1 
			 September 2008 13 24 16 11 11 11 10 8 7 1 
			 October 2008 13 23 16 11 11 11 10 8 7 1 
			 November 2008 12 23 16 11 11 11 10 8 7 1 
			 December 2008 12 23 16 11 11 11 10 8 7 1 
			 January 2009 11 22 16 11 11 11 10 9 7 1 
			 February 2009 12 23 16 11 11 11 10 8 7 1 
			 March 2009 12 23 16 11 11 11 10 8 7 1 
			 April 2009 11 22 16 11 11 11 10 9 7 1 
			 May 2009 11 22 16 11 11 12 11 9 7 1 
			 June 2009 11 22 16 11 11 12 11 0 7 1 
			 July 2009 11 23 16 11 11 12 11 9 7 1 
			 August 2009 11 24 16 11 11 11 10 8 7 1 
			 September 2009 11 23 15 11 11 12 11 8 7 1 
			 October 2009 11 23 15 11 11 12 11 9 7 1 
			  Source: Jobcentre Plus administrative system

Personal Accounts

Nigel Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  whether the costs of establishing the Personal Accounts Delivery Authority will be met from charges made in respect of the proposed personal accounts scheme;
	(2)  when she plans to announce her decision on the  (a) level of and  (b) mechanisms for making charges in respect of the proposed personal accounts scheme.

Angela Eagle: Revenues from membership charges are intended to cover the costs of the scheme, including those being incurred by the Delivery Authority to establish the scheme.
	A decision on the scheme's charging regime is yet to be made.

Post Office Card Account: Castle Point

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many and what percentage of state benefit payments to residents of Castle Point constituency were paid into Post Office card accounts in each of the last five years.

Helen Goodman: The figures are not available in the format requested.
	The following table shows the number and percentage of benefit accounts paid into a Post Office card account (POCA) in the Castle Point constituency in each of the last five years. Benefit accounts will have multiple transactions and may include payment of more than one state benefit.
	
		
			   All PO CA  Percentage paid by  POCA 
			 2005 4700 16 
			 2006 4660 15 
			 2007 4520 14 
			 2008 4320 13 
			 2009 4170 12

Social Security Benefits

Martin Horwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent estimate she has made of the number of households in England in which all resident adults  (a) have a child under 16 years and  (b) are pregnant women with maternity certificate MAT-B1 and are in receipt of at least one of income support, council tax benefit, housing benefit, jobseeker's allowance, pension credit and income-related employment and support allowance.

Helen Goodman: holding answer 10 December 2009
	Information on the receipt of income support, council tax benefit, housing benefit, jobseeker's allowance, and pension credit is not available on a person level basis because these are paid on a benefit unit basis.
	The most recent estimate available is that there were 1,000,000 households in England where all of the benefit units had children under 16 and were in receipt of at least one of income support, council tax benefit, housing benefit, jobseeker's allowance, or pension credit.

Social Security Benefits: Legal Aid

Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment she has made of the effects of the availability of legal aid funding on the ability of people to obtain benefits administered by her Department.

Jim Knight: Legal aid funding does not impact on eligibility criteria for benefits administered by the Department for Work and Pensions.

Winter Fuel Payments: Derbyshire

Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in  (a) Chesterfield constituency and  (b) Derbyshire received winter fuel payments in 2008-09.

Angela Eagle: 21,820 people in Chesterfield constituency and 175,520 in Derbyshire received a winter fuel payment in winter 2008-09.
	 Notes:
	1. Figures rounded to the nearest ten.
	2. Parliamentary constituencies and local authorities are assigned by matching postcodes against the relevant ONS postcode directory.
	 Source:
	DWP Information Directorate 100 per cent. data.

Winter Fuel Payments: Leeds

John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in the Leeds city area received winter fuel payments in 2008-09.

Angela Eagle: 137,580 individuals in Leeds local authority received a winter fuel payment in 2008-09.
	 Notes:
	1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10.
	2. Local authorities are assigned by matching postcodes against the relevant ONS postcode directory.
	 Source:
	Information Directorate, DWP

Winter Fuel Payments: Leeds

John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in Leeds, West constituency received winter fuel payments in 2008-09.

Angela Eagle: 14,180 individuals in Leeds, West constituency received a winter fuel payment in 2008-09.
	 Notes:
	1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10.
	2. Parliamentary constituencies are assigned by matching postcodes against the relevant ONS postcode directory.
	 Source:
	Information Directorate, DWP

Winter Fuel Payments: West Yorkshire

John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in West Yorkshire received winter fuel payments in 2008-09.

Angela Eagle: 409,140 individuals in the West Yorkshire Government office region received a winter fuel payment in 2008-09.
	 Notes:
	1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10.
	2. Local authorities are assigned by matching postcodes against the relevant ONS postcode directory.
	 Source:
	Information Directorate, DWP

Work Capability Assessment

Mark Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions with reference to the answer of 10 November 2009,  Official Report, column 300W, on Jobcentre Plus: training, what qualifications and experience Atos Healthcare professionals are required to have before making medical assessments on individuals' fitness for work.

Jonathan R Shaw: The approved health care professionals' (HCPs) role is to carry out an assessment of the functional effects of the customer's disabling condition, and to utilise the information gathered to provide the decision maker with an impartial and independent assessment.
	Atos doctors must be fully registered with the General Medical Council without current or previous restrictions, conditions or warnings and hold a licence to practice from the date the GMC issues licences. In addition they must have at least three years post full registration (GMC or EEA-European Economic Area equivalent) experience as a minimum. Alternatively for non EU graduates three years post full registration experience in the doctors native country is required. In individual cases, solely at the discretion of the CMA, the requirements that no conditions or warnings be attached to registration and that the doctor must have a minimum of three years post registration experience, may be waived.
	Atos nurses must be fully registered (level 1) Registered General Nurses without current or previous restrictions or cautions with the Nursing and Midwifery Council. In addition they must have at least three years post full registration experience. In individual cases, solely at the discretion of the CMA, the requirements that no cautions be attached to registration and that the nurse must have a minimum of three years post registration experience, may be waived.
	Atos Healthcare HCPs are specifically trained to provide decision making authorities with independent, accurate and authoritative advice and reports on the effects of disability.
	Initial Training-varies in detail according to which benefit is involved. However all such training follows a similar basic pattern, as follows:
	Theoretical Training-Theoretical training commences with a trainer-led theory-based course usually delivered to a group of trainees in a classroom setting. Trainees who are new to the work of Atos Healthcare will receive instruction in such areas as disability analysis, customers rights, equal opportunities and professional standards. Detailed technical information relevant to the benefit concerned is provided. All Atos health care trainers have undergone specific training to prepare them for the role, including practical sessions to enhance their understanding of how adults learn.
	Practical Training-Practical Training is the work undertaken by the new recruits that is produced in a controlled environment. For examination centre based assessments the trainee is supervised and appraised by an experienced medical adviser as they complete their introductory cases. In the domiciliary visit based benefits the initial cases are monitored immediately on return to allow feedback to be given without delay.
	Demonstration of understanding assessed by multiple choice examination-for incapacity benefit, employment and support allowance and disability living allowance the trainee is required to attain a pass mark in a multiple choice questionnaire before they are allowed to proceed to the practical training. The questionnaire includes questions on the whole range of topics covered in the training course.
	Demonstration of understanding by audit-In all benefits the initial cases produced by the trainee are target monitored by an experienced medical adviser and the training cannot be considered as complete until the HCP has demonstrated that their work is acceptable. Whenever any problems are identified appropriate feedback is provided. Further cases are monitored until the work is shown to be satisfactory. If the situation is not rectified the HCP may be required to repeat the entire training process. Continued lack of progress will result in the HCP being offered no further training and no further work.
	Approval-All HCPs must be approved by the chief medical adviser to the DWP and separate approval is required for each benefit area in which the HCP is involved. Approval is dependent on successful completion of all stages of their training process and ongoing demonstration that the work being carried out meets a satisfactory standard.
	Written Guidelines-As part of the trainees training and ongoing support, HCPs are issued with guidelines pertaining to the benefit involved. These guidance notes provide specific technical advice about the benefit concerned, outline best practise and contain general advice about disability analysis and service to the people with disabilities.
	The assessment carried out is different to the more usual type of medical examination in which the HCPs aim is to make a diagnosis and decide on appropriate treatment. A GP or specialist is not usually trained in disability assessment medicine and therefore will often not have specific experience in assessing the disabling effects of medical conditions and the way in which a customer's illness or disability affects them in carrying out of a range of everyday work-related activities. As well as this difference in emphasis within the assessment process, the HCP will, when giving an opinion, be aware of the law relating to benefit entitlement. A specialist on the other hand is less likely to be familiar with the law.
	In order to provide independent, accurate and authoritative advice and reports it is not necessary for HCPs to hold specialist registration with the General Medical Council. The DWP chief medical adviser approves HCPs to carry out assessments. Approval is dependent on strict recruitment criteria, completion of a course of training in disability assessment medicine approved by the CMA and evidence of satisfactory performance.
	Minimum experience criteria for recruitment are laid down both employed and contracted HCPs.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Afghanistan: Reconstruction

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the monetary value has been of contracts entered into by his Department in Afghanistan with  (a) Afghan and  (b) non-Afghan contractors in each year since 2001.

Ivan Lewis: The information we have on non-Afghan contractors is as follows and covers contracts in Afghanistan during the financial years 2008-09 and 2009-10. Comprehensive information on contracts pre-dating this period could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
	
		
			  Purpose  Company  Notes  Value (£) 
			 Intelligence Advisers Minimal Risks November 2008-August 2010 633,691 
			 Life Support Services Crown Agents April 2009-March 2010 1,061,888 
			 Police Mentors and Advisers ArmorGroup January-March 2009 (end) 157,110 
			 Mobile and Static Security ArmorGroup January-December 2009 20,174,588 
			 Vehicle Maintenance ArmorGroup February 2009-February 2010 328,079 
			 Civilian airlift Diplomat Freight Services April 2008-March 2009 1,934,843 
			 Primary Healthcare Edinburgh International January-December 2009 379,543 
			  Note: The above figures include all current contracts, with figures for the specific periods stated in the Notes column. 
		
	
	The aforementioned contracts are those that are administered by the FCO centrally in London. Details of Afghan contractors/contracts run and administered locally at our posts in Afghanistan are not held centrally and thus could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Bermuda

Andy Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he is taking to support the Government of Bermuda in tackling gun crime; and if he will make a statement.

Chris Bryant: Under the Bermuda constitution, the governor has responsibility for the police. He is working closely with the Bermuda police service and the Bermuda Government to help the police tackle rising gun crime. Three overseas police forces have offered their experience and advice: a force in Florida, the Federal Bureau of Investigation of the Washington DC area and West Midlands police in the UK. All three offers have been accepted by Bermuda and will be put to the best possible use.

Bosnia-Herzegovina: Judiciary

William Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions his Department has had with the High Representative in Bosnia-Herzegovina on the future role of international judges and prosecutors in Bosnia-Herzegovina; and what recent representations he has received on the matter.

David Miliband: High Representative Inzko briefed the 18-19 November Peace Implementation Council (PIC) Steering Board on the future role of international judges and prosecutors in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The PIC Steering Board invited him to consider what further steps could be taken to address the concerns raised in this regard. Officials from my Department have since been in regular contact on this issue with High Representative Inzko and his staff.

Bosnia-Herzegovina: Judiciary

William Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with his EU counterparts on the continued presence of the international judges and prosecutors serving in the War Crimes Chamber of the State Court in Bosnia-Herzegovina; and what the outcomes of those discussions were.

David Miliband: The continued presence of international judges and prosecutors serving in the War Crimes Chamber of the State Court in Bosnia and Herzegovina was raised at the European Foreign Affairs Council on 8 December, where I made clear UK support for an extension to their mandate.

Bosnia-Herzegovina: Judiciary

William Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of recommendations in the 3 December report to the UN Security Council by Prosecutor Serge Brammertz on the continued presence of the international judges and prosecutors serving in the War Crimes Chamber of the State Court in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

David Miliband: The Government support the assessment made by International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia Chief Prosecutor Brammertz in his 3 December 2009 report to the UN Security Council on the continued presence of the international judges and prosecutors serving in the War Crimes Chamber of the State Court in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). The Government agree that these judges make an important contribution to the justice system in BiH, and to the ability of the country to meet its international obligations, and therefore strongly supports High Representative Inzko's 14 December 2009 decision to extend the mandate of international judges and prosecutors working in the war crimes department of the Court of BiH.

Christmas

David Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many Christmas trees were purchased by his Department and its agencies in each of the last five years; what the cost was of those trees in each year; from where the trees were sourced; what account was taken of the sustainability of the sources of the trees; and by what process the trees were disposed of.

Chris Bryant: This information is not held centrally, and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

Christmas

Edward Vaizey: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much his Department has budgeted for Christmas trees in 2009.

Chris Bryant: This information is not held centrally, and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

Departmental Carbon Emissions

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what estimate he has made of the tonnage of carbon dioxide emissions arising as a result of his activities undertaken in an official capacity in each year since his appointment.

Chris Bryant: The information requested is not held centrally, and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. Since 1999 the Government have published a list of Cabinet Ministers' overseas travel over £500 along with the total cost for all ministerial travel. Copies of lists are available in the Library of the House. All ministerial travel is undertaken in accordance with the Ministerial Code and all central Government ministerial and official air travel has been offset from 1 April 2006.
	The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) is actively seeking to improve the sustainability of its operations through its Greening the FCO programme, whose objective is to ensure that all aspects of FCO operations at home and overseas are managed sustainably, and that environmental considerations are at the heart of the way the FCO is run.

Departmental Conferences

John Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs which conferences held overseas have been attended by civil servants based in his Department in the last three years; and what the cost to the public purse was of such attendance at each conference.

Chris Bryant: This information is not held centrally, and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

Departmental Co-ordination

William Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs with reference to the answer of 14 August 2008,  Official Report, column 125W, on Departmental coordination: Department for International Development, what progress has been made on his Department's planned co-location with the Department for International Development in Abuja; and if he will make a statement.

David Miliband: In May 2009, when the business case was developed and the amount of their financial contribution formally assessed, the Department for International Development withdrew from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's project to construct a new high commission in Abuja and decided to remain in their existing offices in the city. However, in order to provide flexibility, the design of the new mission is being taken forward to allow future co-location with the Department for International Development should circumstances change.
	Co-location is the preferred option for both the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Department for International Development and each proposal is assessed on both its financial and non-financial elements with a focus on achieving best value for the Government.

Departmental Cost Effectiveness

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what efficiency savings projects  (a) his Department and  (b) its agencies put in place under the Operational Efficiency Programme; on what date each such project was initiated; how much each such project was expected to contribute to departmental savings; how much had been saved through each such project on the latest date for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement.

Chris Bryant: Building on the comprehensive spending review 07 (CSR07) programme to deliver £35 billion in savings by the end of financial year 2010-11, the Operational Efficiency Programme (OEP) is a key part of the Government's drive to achieve greater efficiency savings across public spending.
	The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) is working on its contribution towards the £35billion in savings as outlined in its most recent Departmental Report and forthcoming Autumn Performance Report. Despite over £100 million of financial pressures caused by sterling's fall in value, the FCO is working to achieve its OEP contribution through:
	The Corporate Services Programme, which was launched in December 2008. This is expected to deliver £4 million in financial benefits in 2010-11. As of November 2009, the Corporate Services Programme had delivered £3.4 million in financial benefits from outsourcing facilities management services, localising corporate services positions overseas and rationalising corporate services activity in the UK.
	Corporate Procurement which is contributing £2 million savings in Programme Spend targeted mainly at the daily rates being charged by organisations awarded accountable grants and £2 million savings through the implementation of the FCO's Consultancy Value Programme and Category Management for Consultancy.
	FCO Services (FCOS) which is an independent trading fund. In addition to their £6million saving target already agreed for CSR07, FCOS will generate an additional £4million in 2010-11 by driving down their costs further and through an increased dividend.
	£2.1 million to be found by further driving down of costs.
	The wider FCO Family is also contributing. The British Council will deliver £2.6 million in savings in 2010-11 through its Business Transformation programme which began in May 2009. The BBC World Service has made strides in the sharing and outsourcing of back office functions, including procurement and will continue to examine its processes to help produce future savings to contribute £3.3 million.

Departmental Electronic Equipment

Greg Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many plasma screen televisions his Department has purchased since 2001; and what the cost has been of purchasing and installing such screens in each such year.

Chris Bryant: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the right hon. Member for Horsham (Mr. Maude) on 6 March 2008,  Official Report, column 2791W.
	The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) delegates budgets for such equipment to individual internal departments and does not hold a centralised record of such purchases. The information could therefore be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	Standard FCO guidance applies to the purchase of plasma television screens. This is based on achieving value for money.

Departmental Energy

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the  (a) energy rating and  (b) energy band of each building occupied by his Department and its agencies was in each year for which figures are available.

Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the energy efficiency rating is of each of his Department's buildings in London.

Chris Bryant: The energy ratings and bands for Foreign and Commonwealth Office buildings are as follows:
	
		
			   2008  2009 
			   Rating  Band  Rating  Band 
			 King Charles Street 92 D 110 E 
			 Old Admiralty Building 103 E 98 D 
			 Lancaster House 71 C 87 D 
			 1 Carlton Gardens 58 C 49 B 
			 Hanslope Park 245 G 155 and 619 G

Departmental Internet

David Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what redesigns of websites operated by  (a) his Department and  (b) its agencies have taken place since 27 June 2007; and what the (i) cost to the public purse and (ii) date of completion of each such redesign was.

Chris Bryant: The information is as follows:
	 (a) The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has undertaken two redesigns of its websites since 27 June 2007. Between March and September 2008, the FCO delivered a new FCO web platform, which included redesigns of all its 250 websites. Then in October 2009, the FCO completed a redesign of its main site www.fco.gov.uk.
	(i) The cost to the public purse of the two redesigns are as follows:
	2008: It is not possible to break down the costs for the 2008 redesign because the redesign costs were part of the wider FCO web platform project, which was delivered by Logica. Logica subcontracted elements of the project out (for example, to XM for design, to Alterian for the content management system, to Verizon for hosting). The amount Logica paid subcontractors for the design work is commercially protected and not known to the FCO.
	2009: In October 2009, the FCO redesigned the FCO corporate site www.fco.gov.uk. The work was completed using in-house resources at no additional cost to the public purse. The in-house resources cannot be disaggregated from the ongoing cost of maintaining the FCO web platform.
	(ii) Dates of completion are as follows:
	2008: Our corporate site www.fco.gov.uk launched on 31 March 2008, including with the new design. Our other sites were launched over the summer, with the final one going live on 29 September 2008, including with the new design.
	2009: The 2009 redesign of our corporate site www.fco.gov.uk went live on 24 October 2009.
	 (b) We are not aware of redesigns by our agencies.

Departmental Manpower

William Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what change there has been in the number of locally engaged staff at each overseas post as a result of budgetary changes since the withdrawal of the overseas price mechanism; and if he will make a statement.

David Miliband: Staffing levels at posts take into account a number of factors, chiefly operational need, affordability and sustainability. Local budgets are devolved to heads of post, therefore, the recording of changes to the number of locally engaged staff as a result of the withdrawal of the overseas price mechanism (OPM) and any subsequent budgetary changes are not held centrally. To provide a breakdown for each overseas post spanning the period from the withdrawal of OPM to the present could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Departmental Official Hospitality

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much  (a) his Department and  (b) its agencies spent on (i) alcohol and (ii) entertainment in the last 12 months.

Chris Bryant: Spend on alcohol for official entertainment was included within the total for entertainment expenditure in the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Chipping Barnet (Mrs. Villiers) on 12 October 2009,  Official Report, columns 38-39W. Expenditure on official entertainment is devolved to individual departments and posts and to provide a breakdown for alcohol alone could be done only at disproportionate cost.

Departmental Sick Leave

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many days sickness absence were taken by staff in his Department in each of the last 12 months for which figures are available; and what the cost to his Department was of such absence.

Chris Bryant: For the 12 month period from December 2008 to November 2009, a total of 21,628 sick days were taken by UK-based civil servants employed by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. The estimated cost of this absence is £1,881,809.59.

Departmental Standards

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs for what reasons the decision was made to change the corporate services programme from a five to a three-year programme; and if he will make a statement.

Chris Bryant: The corporate services programme has a key role to play in driving cost savings from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's back office. It was directed to deliver those savings within a three year timescale in light of the tight fiscal climate.

Departmental Standards

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many consultants are employed by his Department's corporate services programme; and what the cost to date of employing consultants within the programme has been.

Chris Bryant: The corporate services programme currently employs 36 staff, of which nine are consultants or specialist contractors. The programme also has a number of contracts in place to obtain specialist technical, legal and commercial advice and support.
	The total spend on such external support since October 2008 is £4,382,269.
	The corporate services programme aims to reduce the cost of the back office by approximately £24 million year on year from 2011-12.

Departmental Taxis

Ian Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what contracts his Department has with private hire taxi companies; and what expenditure his Department has incurred against each such contract in each of the last three years.

Chris Bryant: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) currently uses two contracts with private hire taxi companies: Addison Lee, covering the London area; and Raffles Taxis, covering the Milton Keynes area. Both contracts are used for both FCO departmental usage, and FCO Services. As FCO Services has been an independent Trading Fund since 1 April 2008, their expenditure is recorded and shown separately since that date.
	The FCO uses a contracted out service to ensure the best value for money, and taxi use is verified by directorates. We are working collaboratively with other Government departments to keep future costs down by the use of a single service provider. Following an in-house review earlier in 2009 the FCO has taken positive action to reduce its taxi costs as demonstrated by the figures for the first seven months of this year. We are continuing to bear down on future costs.
	FCO guidance underlines that all staff should travel by the most appropriate means according to the demands of their job and to ensure maximum efficiency and value for money. Public transport must be used whenever possible. Taxis may be used when there is no other suitable methods of public transport available-e.g. when staff are working late into the night during crises, or travelling to airports at unsociable hours-or where staff are carrying classified material for meetings.
	
		
			  £ 
			   Raffles Taxis  Addison Lee 
			  Financial Year 2007/08 206,563 340,531 
			
			  Financial Year 2008/09   
			 FCO departmental usage 108,584 386,448 
			 FCO Services Trading Fund 195,850 35,089 
			
			  Financial Year 2009/10 (spend for 7 months to 31 October 2009)   
			 FCO departmental usage 41,011 174,317 
			 FCO Services Trading Fund 101,003 30,827

Departmental Telephone Services

Mark Lazarowicz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many telephone lines with the prefix  (a) 0870,  (b) 0845 and  (c) 0800 his Department (i) operates and (ii) sponsors; how many calls were received to each number in the last 12 months; and whether alternative numbers charged at the BT local rate are available in each case.

Chris Bryant: None.

Departmental Training

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much  (a) his Department and  (b) its agencies spent on away days in the last 12 months; and what the (i) subject and (ii) location of each away day was.

Chris Bryant: This information is not held centrally as spending on away days is devolved to individual Departments and posts. Providing a breakdown for each one including subject and location for the period requested could be done only at disproportionate cost.

Departmental Written Questions

John Mason: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many questions tabled for answer on a named day his Department received in each of the last 12 months; and to how many such questions his Department provided a substantive answer on the day named.

Chris Bryant: In recent months, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office has significantly improved its performance in answering named day parliamentary questions (PQs) on time. The numbers of such PQs received and answered on time from January 2009 to Prorogation in November 2009 were as follows. Reliable statistics are not available for December 2008.
	
		
			   PQs received  PQs answered on time 
			 January 66 10 
			 February 62 17 
			 March 66 21 
			 April 29 5 
			 May 40 17 
			 June 50 28 
			 July 45 32 
			 September 35 35 
			 October 92 67 
			 November 22 19

Gibraltar: Territorial Waters

Nicholas Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the status in international law of the extent of Gibraltar territorial waters; and if he will make a statement.

Chris Bryant: We are fully confident of the UK's sovereignty over British Gibraltar Territorial Waters.

Gibraltar: Territorial Waters

Nicholas Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of the merits of the government of Gibraltar's application to the European Court of First Instance against Commission Decision 2009/95/EC updating a list of sites of Community importance for the Mediterranean biogeographical region; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what discussions his Department had with  (a) the Gibraltarian Government,  (b) the Spanish Government and  (c) the European Commission prior to Commission Decision 2009/95/EC updating a list of sites of Community importance for the Mediterranean biogeographical region; and if he will make a statement;
	(3)  what representations he has made to  (a) the Gibraltarian Government,  (b) the Spanish Government and  (c) the European Commission on Commission Decision 2009/95/EC updating a list of sites of Community importance for the Mediterranean biogeographical region since the decision was made; and if he will make a statement;
	(4)  what his Department's policy is on the government of Gibraltar's application for the annulment of the Spanish site of Community importance known as Estrecho Oriental; and if he will make it his policy to challenge any new decision by the European Commission adopting an updated list of such sites which does not recognise the sovereignty of Gibraltar over its territorial waters.

Chris Bryant: We are fully confident of the United Kingdom's sovereignty over British Gibraltar Territorial Waters (BGTW).
	The UK has sought and received permission from the European General Court to intervene in support of the Government of Gibraltar's application for annulment of Commission Decision 2009/95/EC updating a list of sites of Community importance for the Mediterranean biogeographical region insofar as it relates to the Estrecho Oriental site. The court has indicated that it will hear admissibility arguments first. Our written intervention on admissibility issues will be submitted to the court in January 2010 and we cannot comment further on the contents of that intervention at this stage.
	We fully support the Government of Gibraltar on this issue and remain in close contact with them. We have made representations to both the European Commission and Spain in order to object to their actions on this matter and have placed on record that the UK does not recognise the validity of the Estrecho Oriental listing. We object that Spain should have sought to have an area of BGTW listed and that this listing should have been approved. The UK is the only state competent to propose a Site of Community Importance within BGTW. During the recent negotiations on the latest proposed Decision updating the list of sites in the Mediterranean, the UK voted against the proposal because of the inclusion of the Spanish designation of Estrecho Oriental. We are considering our options in the event of a new Commission Decision including this site on its list.

Government Departments: Wine

David Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the estimated total value of alcoholic beverages in the Government wine cellar is; what it was in 2008-09; how many bottles of  (a) wine,  (b) beer,  (c) spirits and  (d) other alcoholic beverages are held in the cellar; and how many alcoholic beverages from the cellar were consumed in the last year.

Chris Bryant: The Government Hospitality wine cellar provides for all Government Departments. I refer the hon. Member to the reply given by my hon. Friend the Member for Lincoln (Gillian Merron) to the hon. Member for Bath (Mr. Foster) on 28 April 2009,  Official Report, column 1204W. Since then the size of cellar has grown by about 500 bottles, and in value by about £85,000. In the 2008-09 financial year, Government Hospitality used about 14 per cent. of its stock, which is in line with previous years.

Hakluyt

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs with reference to the answer of 5 November 2009,  Official Report, columns 1112-13W, on Hakluyt, if he will publish the submission made to the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State setting out  (a) the (i) reasons and (ii) justifications for not providing the information requested in Question 296748 and  (b) the estimated cost of providing the information requested, required in accordance with section 7.28 of the Cabinet Office's Guide to Parliamentary Work.

David Miliband: My hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State agreed that as the requested information was not held centrally, collating the information would incur disproportionate costs for the Department. In order to provide an accurate answer to the question, all Foreign and Commonwealth Office staff in Departments in London and our 242 posts across the world would need to be contacted and their replies collated, the costs of which would exceed the disproportionate costs threshold as stated in the Cabinet Office's Guide to Parliamentary Work.

Hotels

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much his Department spent on hotel accommodation for  (a) Ministers,  (b) special advisers and  (c) civil servants in each of the last five years.

Chris Bryant: Spend on hotel accommodation is devolved to individual departments and posts and to provide a breakdown spanning a period covering five years could be done only at disproportionate cost.

Israel

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent representations he has made to the Government of Israel on the continued building of illegal settlements.

Ivan Lewis: holding answer 14 December 2009
	Settlements, including in East Jerusalem, are illegal and an obstacle to peace. We want Israel's 25 November 2009 announcement on a settlement moratorium to become a step towards resuming meaningful negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians. We continue to call for a full settlement freeze in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, including so-called 'natural growth', in accordance with the responsibilities in the 2003 road-map.
	My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has reiterated the UK position to the Israeli Government on several occasions, most recently in his telephone conversation with the Israeli Foreign Minister on 25 November 2009.

Middle East: Armed Conflict

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent reports he has received of  (a) the number of (i) rockets and (ii) arms held by Hezbollah in Lebanon and  (b) the number of militia being trained by Hezbollah in Lebanon; and if he will make a statement.

Ivan Lewis: The latest report from the UN Secretary General on UN Security Council Resolution 1701 highlighted that Hezbollah continues to maintain a substantial military capacity distinct from that of the Lebanese state, in direct contravention of Security Council Resolutions 1559 and 1701. It also makes clear that Hezbollah have not challenged allegations regarding its armament and increased military capability.
	All these reports are available on the UN website at:
	http://www.un.org/Docs/sc/sgrep09.htm
	This, combined with statements made by Hassan Nasrallah, Secretary General of Hezbollah, suggest that Hezbollah has increased its military capacity. However, we lack definitive figures.

Middle East: Armed Conflict

Phyllis Starkey: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the effect of the blockade of Gaza on  (a) the level of separation between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank and East Jerusalem,  (b) efforts to establish a two-state solution in the Middle East,  (c) the security situation in (i) Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory and (ii) the Middle East and  (d) the likelihood of war in the region.

Ivan Lewis: The Gaza conflict and Israeli restrictions on Gaza have reversed earlier economic and social development gains. These restrictions do not only affect the every day lives of innocent civilians but also increase the challenges in achieving a comprehensive and just peace between the Israelis and Palestinians. We will continue to press the Israeli government to ease border restrictions in Gaza. We also call on them to reduce the barriers to the movement of people and goods between the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

Middle East: Armed Conflict

Phyllis Starkey: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs with reference to his comments on the BBC World at One programme on 30 December 2008, what assessment he has made of whether the objectives he has set for the Government's policy in respect of Hamas have been achieved; and what the benefit is of this policy.

Ivan Lewis: We continue to believe that it is not productive to talk to Hamas. The military wing of Hamas is proscribed in the UK as a terrorist organisation: it fires rockets at Israeli civilians and puts ordinary Palestinians in harm's way. We believe that to talk to Hamas while it continues to use violence would simply undermine those Palestinians who are committed to peace.

Middle East: Armed Conflict

Phyllis Starkey: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports he has received on  (a) UK nationals and  (b) nationals of other European countries involved in shooting incidents at the Erez crossing in 2009.

Ivan Lewis: We are aware of two incidents that have involved the Israeli Defence Forces firing warning shots at EU nationals at the Erez crossing in 2009. One of these incidents involved an official from the British consulate-general in Jerusalem, and the other an official from another EU consulate-general in Jerusalem. There were no casualties in either incident. We have made our concerns clear to the Israeli authorities.

Middle East: Armed Conflict

Phyllis Starkey: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he most recently reviewed the Government's policy on Gaza.

Ivan Lewis: The Government constantly keep their policies under review. The UK continues to be gravely concerned regarding the humanitarian situation in Gaza, and we urge the Israeli authorities to implement fully UN Security Council Resolution 1860 and reduce restrictions at the Gaza crossings. We also call on those holding the abducted Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit to release him without delay. These concerns were clearly highlighted in the 8 December EU Foreign Affairs Council Conclusions.

Middle East: Armed Conflict

Phyllis Starkey: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when the Prime Minister last asked his Israeli counterpart to end the blockade of Gaza.

Ivan Lewis: My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister reiterated to the Israeli Prime Minister on 14 October 2009 the urgent need to permit the flow of essential humanitarian aid and reconstruction material into Gaza.

Olympic Games 2012

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps his Department is taking to assist in preparations for the London 2012 Olympics.

Chris Bryant: holding answer 15 December 2009
	The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) will be supporting certain international aspects of the Olympic games and Paralympic games, including looking after visiting Heads of State and Government and liaising with countries participating in the games. The FCO currently has a small team in place, co-ordinating our preparations for the games. Other staff are working on London 2012-related projects, including security and protocol issues, and a public diplomacy campaign that seeks to use the games to promote Britain's image abroad.

Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent meetings he has had with representatives from the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe; and if he will make a statement.

Chris Bryant: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary met the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Secretary-General, Marc Perrin De Brichambaut, when he attended the OSCE Informal Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Corfu in June 2009. The Secretary-General also met the then Minster for Europe (Caroline Flint), when he visited London in February.

Overseas Territories Consultative Council

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the outcomes of the recently held Overseas Territories Consultative Council meeting.

Chris Bryant: I had open and frank exchanges with the Overseas Territory leaders (except Gibraltar, which did not attend) at this year's Overseas Territories Consultative Council on a wide range of subjects. We agreed the following in a communiqué issued after the meeting:
	to continue discussions on the relationship between the UK and the Overseas Territories;
	to recommit to the principles of good governance;
	that the UK will, where appropriate, assist the Territories to meet their international obligations;
	the importance of respect for human rights and the need to safeguard children;
	to finalise action within Territories to enable extension to all the populated Territories of the International Labour Organisation convention 182 on the worst forms of child labour and the convention on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women, during the course of 2010;
	the importance of managing public finances so that Territories are better placed to guard against downturns in their economies;
	the need to review the Overseas Territories borrowing guidelines;
	the importance of implementing recommendations from the Foot review of British offshore financial centres;
	that the UK will support efforts to tackle crime in the Overseas Territories.

Palestinians

Phyllis Starkey: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he plans to visit Gaza.

Ivan Lewis: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has no immediate plans to visit Gaza.

Palestinians: Human Rights

Rob Marris: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he received from the organisation Lawyers for Palestinian Human Rights on 30 March 2009; what consideration he has given to these representations; and if he will make a statement.

Ivan Lewis: holding answer 14 December 2009
	We have received several letters from the organisation Lawyers for Palestinian Human Rights throughout 2009. They highlighted human rights concerns including border restrictions imposed by the Israeli authorities in Gaza and the administrative detention of Palestinian prisoners without charge.
	We take the protection of human rights very seriously. The UK have consistently pressed the Israeli authorities to ease border restrictions in Gaza and have also urged them to ensure that their legal processes are in accordance with international law and democratic norms.

Panchen Lama

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent information he has obtained in respect of the whereabouts and health of the Panchen Lama.

Ivan Lewis: We have consistently raised the case of the Panchen Lama, Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, in previous rounds of our regular UK/China Human Rights Dialogues. Most recently I also included his name on a case list handed to the Chinese authorities during my visit to China in September 2009. In this we asked the Chinese to implement the recommendations of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child report CRC/C/15/Add.271 which the UK supports. This stated that China should allow an independent expert to visit Gedhun Choekyi Nyima to check his living conditions and well-being and that there are no restrictions on his freedom of movement and that he is free to select a career.
	The Chinese responded that
	Gedhun Choekyi Nyima is an ordinary Chinese Tibetan young man and is of good health. At present, he is enjoying a normal life together with his family and receiving good education. The family have repeated many times that they do not want their normal life to be disturbed and that this wish should be sufficiently well respected.
	We will continue to raise this case when appropriate.

Somalia

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he plans to send British personnel to Somalia as part of an EU security sector reform mission.

Ivan Lewis: The UK has no plans to send British personnel into Somalia as part of the EU security sector reform mission. There are ongoing discussions in the EU about the possibility of a Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) mission for Somalia to train Somali security forces.
	If a CSDP mission were to be deployed, the training would take place in another country or other countries because of the fragile security situation inside Somalia. The issue is still being considered and a final decision on a possible CSDP mission will be subject to appropriate assessments, consultation and agreement. Any UK contribution would be dependent on our available resources and the operational needs identified.

Spain: EC Presidency

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of Spain's agenda for its forthcoming Presidency of the EU.

Chris Bryant: We understand that the Spanish Prime Minister, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, will announce the formal programme for their presidency on 15 December 2009. However, the Spanish have already said they will focus on implementing the Lisbon treaty, following up the Copenhagen summit on climate change, putting in place an economic reform strategy for the next 10 years, driving progress on jobs and growth, and bringing Europe closer to its citizens. Innovation and equality will also be important themes. We welcome these emphases.

Trade Unions

Lindsay Roy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps his Department is taking to assist the work of trades unions overseas; and if he will make a statement.

Ivan Lewis: holding answer 10 December 2009
	We have a strong relationship with the Trade Union Congress (TUC) and, through them and through our overseas missions, we work closely with the trade union movement to reach a wide cross-section of civil society overseas. Our worldwide network and the TUC's links with trade union movements around the world mean we are able to work together on issues of mutual concern, such as democracy, human rights and rule of law.
	Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) ministers meet formally with senior TUC officials and representatives three times a year at the Joint Advisory Council to discuss international issues; the most recent of these meetings took place on 3 September 2009, and another is planned for January 2010. The TUC and the FCO have designated official contact points, who meet on a regular basis to ensure action is taken on recommendations from the Joint Advisory Council meetings. Additionally, ad hoc meetings take place to discuss geographical and thematic issues.

Turks and Caicos Islands: Human Rights

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the effects of the recent suspension of human rights legislation in the Turks and Caicos Islands; and if he will make a statement.

Chris Bryant: While parts of the constitution have been suspended, the fundamental rights and freedoms of the individual are still protected under part 1 of the Turks and Caicos Constitution Order 2006, which remains in force. The Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI) Constitution (Interim Amendment) Order 2009 has removed the constitutional right to trial by jury in certain criminal cases.
	The Order in Council suspending ministerial Government and the House of Assembly for a period of up to two years was brought into force on 14 August 2009. The order left the human rights provisions of the constitution in place except for the constitutional right to trial by jury in TCI, which was suspended. This provides the possibility in future of having trials by judge alone in the TCI Supreme Court in appropriate cases. This is wholly consistent with the European convention on human rights, which does not require trial by jury. A number of countries have criminal trials without a jury and even in the UK there is no right to trial by jury in every case.
	On suspension of the House of Assembly, the UK withdrew its acceptance of protocol 1, article 3 of the European convention on human rights in respect of the Turks and Caicos Islands, which requires contracting parties to hold free elections at reasonable intervals by secret ballot, under conditions which will ensure the free expression of the opinion of the people in the choice of the legislature. However, this withdrawal is for a limited period until reforms have been implemented and elections held by July 2011.
	With the approval of the Governor, the TCI Advisory Council and the TCI Human Rights Commission, the right of individual petition, which had previously been accepted in respect of TCI for five years was accepted on a permanent basis in October.

JUSTICE

Ashwell Prison

Dominic Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much has been spent on repair and reconstruction of HM Prison Ashwell since the riot of April 2009.

Jack Straw: Information held by the establishment shows that the costs of reconstruction currently stand at approximately £818,700 and this is set out in the attached table. Each item is rounded up to the nearest £100 or £1,000 for items below and above £1,0000 respectively.
	The police investigation is continuing.
	
		
			   Location of costs  Costs (£) 
			 1 Four residential wings-replacement glass, fire alarm arrangements, HS equipment, etc. 30,000 
			 2 Refurbishing the OMU Building-fire damage, complete refurbishment. 634,000 
			 3 Repairing the gymnasium-Repairs to most windows, internal doors, ceiling tiles fire damage decoration etc. 20,000 
			 4 Healthcare/Reception repairs to windows, internal doors decoration. 10,000 
			 5 Plastics Moulding Workshop-Fire damage and redecoration, replacement machinery. 50,000 
			 6 Maintenance Offices-Repairs to windows, internal doors, decoration. 10,000 
			 7 Potato Pak Building-Totally destroyed by fire. 8,500 
			 8 Repairing D Wing Annex-Replacement of every window pane, some external lights, decoration etc. 10,000 
			 9 Costs of redecorating all other workshops, redecoration replacement windows. 10,000 
			 10 Boarding up buildings. 6,900 
			 11 Compensation to staff and prisoners for property. 4,300 
			 12 Other costs 25,000 
			  Total: 818,700

Christmas

David Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many Christmas trees were purchased by his Department and its agencies in each of the last five years; what the cost was of those trees in each year; from where the trees were sourced; what account was taken of the sustainability of the sources of the trees; and by what process the trees were disposed of.

Michael Wills: Since the Ministry's creation in May 2007, the following amounts have been spent on Christmas trees in its headquarters estate, inclusive of VAT and decorations. The 2008-09 figure includes the purchase of reusable lights.
	
		
			  Financial year  £ 
			 2009-10 1,466 
			 2008-09 970 
			 2007-08 924 
		
	
	The costs are for three trees, one for each building in the MOJ HQ estate for each year.
	The information for agencies can be gathered only at a disproportionate cost. All four of the Ministry's agencies (National Offender Management Service; HM Courts Service; Tribunals Service and Office of the Public Guardian) have regionalised structures. Each individual building orders its own trees and decorations.
	It would incur disproportionate cost to investigate where the trees had been sourced, the sustainability of those sources and the process for their disposal. The decisions on what Christmas trees to purchase are left at local management level.
	The Ministry is committed to sustainable development and improving its environmental performance, including the achievement of key targets to:
	Reduce CO2 emissions by 30 per cent.
	Recycle 75 per cent. of waste
	Reduce the waste we generate by 25 per cent. and
	Reduce water consumption by 25 per cent.

Courts: Physiotherapists

Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what provisions in rules of court permit physiotherapists to appear as expert witnesses in cases involving low-value personal injury claims in road traffic accidents.

Bridget Prentice: There are no specific provisions in rules of court permitting physiotherapists to appear as expert witnesses in cases involving low-value personal injury claims in road traffic accidents. In these claims the court may allow the reasonable costs of obtaining a medical report and attendance of an expert medical witness where the expert evidence was reasonably required.

Health Services: Channel Islands and Isle of Man

Andrew MacKinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what recent assessment he has made of the effects on  (a) educational institutions and  (b) businesses in the Isle of Man of the decision of the National Health Service to terminate its reciprocal agreement with effect from April 2010; and if he will make a statement.

Michael Wills: No such assessments took place. The Department of Health ended the bilateral agreement with the Channel Islands (including Jersey and Guernsey) and gave notice on the agreement with the Isle of Man, as it considers that they are out of place considering the wide availability of travel insurance, and there is little robust data to justify the business case and value for money for the national health service.

Pleural Plaques

Chloe Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice when he will provide the response to his Department's consultation on supporting people with pleural plaques launched in July 2008.

Bridget Prentice: The House of Lords decision has raised extremely complex and difficult issues which have required very careful consideration within Government. It has also been important to look beyond the issue of pleural plaques itself to consider how people who have been exposed to asbestos can be supported much more widely. We are actively considering all these issues in order to be in a position to publish a final response as soon as possible.

Prisoners: Suicide

Dominic Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prisoners committed suicide in each month of 2009.

Jack Straw: The number of self-inflicted deaths in prison establishments in England and Wales for each month of 2009 to date, are as follows:
	
		
			   Self-inflicted deaths 
			 January 10 
			 February 4 
			 March 4 
			 April 7 
			 May 6 
			 June 3 
			 July 7 
			 August 5 
			 September 2 
			 October 5 
			 November 3 
			 December - 
			  Note: There are a further five deaths awaiting classification. The National Offender Management Service's definition of self-inflicted deaths is broader than the legal definition of suicide and includes all deaths where it appears that a prisoner has acted specifically to take their own life. This inclusive approach is used in part because inquest verdicts are often not available for some years after a death (some 20 per cent. of these deaths will not receive a suicide or open verdict at inquest). Annual numbers may change slightly from time to time as inquest verdicts and other information become available. 
		
	
	Every death in prison is a tragedy, and affects families, staff and other prisoners deeply. Ministers, the Ministry of Justice and the National Offender Management Service are committed to learning from each death and to reducing the number of such incidents. Good care and support from staff save many lives, but such instances go largely unreported. Prisons successfully keep safe in any given month approximately 1,500 prisoners assessed to be at particular risk of suicide or self-harm. Deaths in prisons are among the most scrutinised of all incidents and each case is subject to a police investigation and independent investigation by the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman. Robust systems are in place for monitoring all deaths and learning from them.
	The National Offender Management Service has a broad, integrated and evidence-based prisoner suicide prevention and self-harm management strategy that seeks to reduce the distress of all those in prison. This requires proactively identifying prisoners at risk of suicide and self-harm. The strategy encompasses a wide spectrum of NOMS and Department of Health work around such issues as mental health, substance misuse and resettlement. Prisoners identified as at risk of suicide or self-harm are cared for using the Assessment, Care in Custody and Teamwork (ACCT) procedures.

Prisoners: Voting Rights

Mark Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what steps he plans to take in response to the recent Council of Europe resolution on prisoner voting rights in the UK.

Michael Wills: The Government note the interim resolution by the Council of Europe's Committee of Ministers' Deputies in the case of Hirst (No 2). We have recently completed a two-stage consultation on the voting rights of convicted prisoners. We are carefully analysing the responses to the consultation. The Government take their obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights seriously. But we must arrive at an approach which respects the judgment of the Court in Hirst (No 2) while at the same time taking into account the political context and traditions of the United Kingdom.

Prisons: Visits

Dominic Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice which prisons in England and Wales allow visits to inmates on Christmas day.

Jack Straw: Visits do not normally take place on Christmas day, Boxing day or Good Friday. Some prisons may have their own local arrangements where there may be some provision for visits on these days. However, this information is not recorded centrally and could only be obtained by approaching 135 prisons and young offender institutions across England and Wales.

Reintegration Support Scheme

Dominic Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what expenditure his Department incurred on its reintegration support scheme in 2008-09.

Phil Woolas: I have been asked to reply.
	The cost of the 2008-09 Voluntary Assisted Return and Reintegration programmes is currently not available as it is subject to audit.

Written Questions: Government Responses

Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice when he plans to respond to question 301329, tabled by the hon. Member for South-West Bedfordshire on 19 November 2009, on departmental working practices.

Jack Straw: I replied to the hon. Member's question on 7 December 2009. I apologise to the hon. Member for the delay in replying, but I concluded that the original draft answer needed clarification and referred it back.

Young Offenders: Children in Care

David Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what percentage of juveniles imprisoned for breach of  (a) bail and  (b) statutory orders had previously been looked after in each of the last three years.

Maria Eagle: Information on the number of juveniles in custody in England and Wales who had previously been looked after is not held centrally.
	However, a joint Youth Justice Board and HM Inspectorate of Prisons report Children and Young People in Custody 2008-2009 published on 9 December 2009 reported on a survey of every juvenile prison establishment in England and Wales. Responses to the survey indicated that a quarter of young men and nearly half of young women had been in care at some point.

HEALTH

Abortion

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the cost to the NHS was of the abortion procedures undertaken on non-UK residents in hospitals and clinics in England in 2008.

Gillian Merron: There is no cost to the national health service for non-UK residents receiving non-emergency abortions as these will be privately funded.
	Data for the cost of emergency abortions for non-UK residents are not held centrally. It is important to note that emergency abortions are a rare occurrence.

Cholesterol

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when his Department's Prevention Strategy will be published; and whether it will include reference to cholesterol as a risk factor for cardiovascular disease.

Ann Keen: We have recently published NHS 2010-2015: From Good to Great, Preventative, People Centred, Productive. A copy of this has been placed in the Library. As set out in the section on supporting people to stay healthy, we are rolling out NHS health checks, as part of the range of initiatives that are aimed at preventing heart disease, stroke, diabetes and chronic kidney disease.

Cholesterol

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans his Department has to encourage people to take steps to reduce their cholesterol levels.

Ann Keen: Everyone between the ages of 40-74 will be made aware of their cholesterol levels and told how they can reduce it through the NHS health check programme. It will assess people's risk of heart disease, stroke, kidney disease and diabetes and will support people to reduce or manage that risk through individually tailored advice.
	These checks will be based on straightforward questions and measurements such as age, sex, family history, height, weight and blood pressure. They would also include a simple blood test to measure cholesterol.
	Diet and exercise are important parts of any strategy to minimise risk factors for heart disease, including cholesterol. Earlier this year we launched the Change4Life Campaign which aims to help everyone to eat well, move more and live longer.

Cholesterol

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people in England have high cholesterol rates; and if he will make a statement.

Ann Keen: According to data from the Quality Outcomes Framework that are available, approximately 700,000 adults in England had a cholesterol in 2008-09 of more than five millimoles per litre.

Cholesterol

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what recent assessment his Department has made of the effect of high cholesterol on the population;
	(2)  what recent assessment his Department has made of the effect of raised cholesterol on the cardiovascular health of the population;
	(3)  what assessment his Department has made of raised cholesterol as a cause of disability in England.

Ann Keen: We know that raised cholesterol levels are a significant risk factor for all cardiovascular diseases including coronary heart disease and stroke.
	Everyone between the ages of 40-74 (who has not been diagnosed with a vascular disease) will be made aware of their cholesterol levels and told how they can reduce it through the NHS health check programme. It will assess people's risk of heart disease, stroke, kidney disease and diabetes and will support people to reduce or manage that risk through individually tailored advice.
	These checks will be based on straightforward questions and measurements such as age, sex, family history, height, weight and blood pressure. They would also include a simple blood test to measure cholesterol.
	The Quality and Outcomes Framework of the general practitioner contract includes quality indicators that provide incentives for practices to measure and control cholesterol in people who have been diagnosed with cardiovascular disease, diabetes and chronic kidney disease.

Christmas

David Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many Christmas trees were purchased by his Department and its agencies in each of the last five years; what the cost was of those trees in each year; from where the trees were sourced; what account was taken of the sustainability of the sources of the trees; and by what process the trees were disposed of.

Phil Hope: The mandatory requirement for Departments prior to 1 April 2009 was that Christmas trees should be procured from legal sources which are preferably sustainable. The requirement since 1 April 2009 is that Christmas trees must also be purchased from sustainable sources. The Government have developed a set of criteria and a definition of sustainable which can be found on the latest guidance, the 'Timber Procurement Advice Note (TPAN April 2009)'. This is available on the Central Point of Expertise on Timber website at:
	www.proforest.net/cpet/files/TPAN
	All of the trees purchased in 2009 came from a sustainable source. The costs include the delivery, installation and collection and sustainable disposal for each tree. For all trees purchased in 2009 new trees are planted. The costs in 2009 represent the purchase of three small trees for Richmond House to replace artificial trees that were broken and one large tree in Skipton House at a cost of £2,485. The cost of the large tree is broken down as follows:
	
		
			   £ 
			 Cost of tree and decoration 1,786 
			 Collection and disposal 375 
			 VAT at 15 per cent. 324 
		
	
	We purchased a smaller tree in Skipton House in 2009 saving £418 on the costs incurred in 2008
	The following table summarises the number and cost of all the Christmas trees purchased by the Department and its agencies in each of the last five years.
	 Department of Health
	
		
			   Trees purchased  Total cost (£) 
			 2005 1 1,145 
			 2006 1 1,750 
			 2007 2 2,162 
			 2008 1 2,903 
			 2009 4 3,235 
		
	
	 Medicines and Health Regulatory Authority (MHRA)
	MHRA does not hold records of any purchases before 2006. Details of Christmas trees purchased since 2007 are as follows:
	
		
			   Trees purchased  Total cost (£) 
			 2007 1 2,705.50 
			 2008 1 2,674.00 
			 2009 0 0 
		
	
	The tree purchased in 2007 was provided as part of the landlord service charge and we have no records of the source of this tree. The tree purchased in 2008 came from a sustainable forest and a tree was replanted. When finished with use the tree was collected, shredded and turned into compost.
	The Purchasing and Supply Agency has not purchased any trees.

Chronically Sick

Chris McCafferty: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the scheduled dates are for  (a) commencement and  (b) completion of the mid-term review for the National Service Framework for Long-Term Conditions.

Ann Keen: The mid-term review is scheduled to commence early next year, and be completed by late spring 2010.

Departmental Buildings

John Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much his Department spent on works and refurbishment to offices allocated to Ministers in his Department's buildings in the last 12 months.

Phil Hope: The Department of Health has spent £4,890 on works and refurbishment to offices allocated to Ministers in the last 12 months.

Departmental Conferences

John Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which conferences held overseas have been attended by officials of his Department in the last three years; and what the cost to the public purse was of such attendance at each conference.

Phil Hope: Information about attendance at individual conferences and the costs of such attendance is not collected centrally.

Departmental Training

John Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many overseas training courses were attended by officials of his Department in the latest period for which figures are available; how many such officials attended each course; and what the total cost to the public purse was of each course.

Phil Hope: Training provided to departmental staff is delivered primarily through short (half-day or one-day) training courses, taking place on departmental premises whenever possible. Data held centrally show that only in exceptional cases do staff participate in training outside the United Kingdom. In the past year there has been one centrally recorded case of overseas training, at a total cost of £18,000.
	Any training organised locally by teams is not recorded centrally and would incur disproportionate cost to collect.

Departmental Written Questions

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many and what percentage of Parliamentary Questions tabled for written Answer by his Department on a named day in session 2008-09 received a substantive answer on that day.

Phil Hope: 840 questions were tabled for answer on a named day, of which 789 (94 per cent.) were answered on the day specified.

Dietary Supplements: Health Hazards

Lembit �pik: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many illnesses attributable to the use of food supplements were recorded in the last 10 years; and if he will make a statement.

Gillian Merron: There is no mandatory adverse event reporting system for food supplements, therefore there are no central records held of the number of illnesses attributable to the use of food supplements.

Drugs: Prisons

Mike Wood: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what interventions are used to meet the needs of  (a) low,  (b) moderate and  (c) severe drug misusers in prisons; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Drug Interventions Programme in prisons; and if he will make a statement.

Phil Hope: The interventions used to meet the range of needs of drug misusers in prisons are clearly outlined in Drug misuse and dependence: UK guidelines on clinical management (Department of Health (England), the Scottish Government, Welsh Assembly Government and Northern Ireland Executive, 2007), a copy of which has been placed in the Library.
	The 2007 clinical guidelines provide guidance on the treatment of drug misuse in the United Kingdom. They are based on current evidence and professional consensus on how to provide drug treatment for the majority of patients, including within prisons.
	The 2007 clinical guidelines do not provide rigid protocols on how clinicians must provide drug treatment for all drug misusers (all drug misusers includes those with low, moderate and severe misuse). Neither does this guidance override the individual responsibility of clinicians to make appropriate decisions in the circumstances of the individual patient, in consultation with the patient (and guardians and carers if appropriate). In instances where clinicians operate outside the framework of this guidance, they should be able to demonstrate the rationale for their decisions.
	An Independent evaluation of the Integrated Drug Treatment System in prisons has been commissioned by the Department. The independent evaluation began in 2008 and is timetabled to be completed in 2011.

Drugs: Rehabilitation

Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many  (a) adults and  (b) children under 18 years old received opiate substitutes or methadone prescriptions in each year since 2000.

Gillian Merron: The National Drug Treatment Monitoring System (NDTMS) records the number of people in specialist drug treatment who are reported as receiving a prescribing intervention. The vast majority of such adults are receiving methadone or buprenorphine. Of the remainder, some receive other substitute medication and some receive symptomatic treatment in conjunction with psychosocial treatment. NDTMS has recorded data since 2004-05. NDTMS does not record activity by general practitioners who are not specialists in drug treatment who may also prescribe substitute opioids for drug misusers.
	Data from 2004-05 are presented in the following table. Data for 2008-09 have been calculated using a new, more accurate methodology. Revised data for previous years, recalculated to be consistent with the improved methodology, will be published early next year.
	
		
			  Individuals( 1)  in drug treatment in England receiving a prescribing intervention (usually alongside other interventions) 
			   Number 
			 2004-05 88,196 
			 2005-06 107,093 
			 2006-07 118,107 
			 2007-08 131,468 
			 2008-09(2) 147,504 
			 (1) From 2004-05 to 2007-08, data included adults and young people. For 2008-09 the figure includes only adults. (2) Methodology changed to count adults only and improve accuracy. Figures for this year are therefore not directly comparable with previous years. 
		
	
	In 2007-08, 253 young people in specialist treatment in England were recorded in the National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse (NTA)'s published figures ('Getting to Grips, 2009') as receiving a pharmacological intervention, of which 77 were receiving only this intervention (the remainder received other interventions in addition). A pharmacological intervention in the case of a young person will normally be symptomatic treatment, rather than substitute prescribing.
	Prior to 2007-08, young people were included in the general data above. Young people's data for 2008-09 will be published later this month.

Food Standards Agency: Hotels

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much the Food Standards Agency has spent on hotel accommodation for its officials in each of the last five years.

Gillian Merron: The Food Standards Agency does not separately record expenses on hotel accommodation. The cost of separating hotel expense claims from others would be at disproportionate cost.

Food Standards Agency: Internet

David Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what redesigns of websites operated by the Food Standards Agency have taken place since 27 June 2007; and what the  (a) cost to the public purse and  (b) date of completion of each such redesign was.

Gillian Merron: There have been no redesigns of websites operated by the Food Standards Agency since 27 June 2007.

Health Education: Sex

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what sexual health campaigns  (a) directed at students and  (b) in the Greater Manchester area his Department is undertaking.

Gillian Merron: The Department is currently undertaking sexual health campaign activity for young people, including students, in Greater Manchester.
	The 'Any Plans Tonight' campaign will run on billboards in Manchester city centre and on selected bus shelters in wards with high rates of under-18 conceptions for two weeks starting on 29 December 2009. The campaign is aimed at 16 to 18-year-olds and aims to remind young people of the need to use condoms and contraception and promotes local contraception and sexual health services. In addition, the Manchester Metropolitan University branch of the National Union of Students plans to distribute materials for use at their local club nights and on the 'Show a Condom Grab a Gift' event.
	At national level the Department works with the National Union of Students in England on an ongoing basis. The Department of Health and the Department for Children, Schools and Families are currently running an England-wide joint campaign aimed at young people including students. The first part of this campaign, which covers contraception choices and is called 'Contraception. Worth Talking About', was launched on 30 November 2009.

Health Services: Isle of Man

Andrew MacKinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will place in the Library details of  (a) arrangements,  (b) contracts and  (c) tariffs relating to the commissioning by the Isle of Man Government of elective health service treatments handled by North West Specialist Commissioning team of the NHS that have been in operation over the past decade; and if he will make a statement.

Gillian Merron: holding answer 25 November 2009
	A copy of an agreement between NHS North West Specialist Commissioning team and the Isle of Man Government has been placed in the Library. Tariffs used are in line with national policy with regard to payment by result.

Health Services: Leeds

John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what change there has been in the financial position of  (a) primary care trusts and  (b) hospital trusts in Leeds in the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement.

Ann Keen: The information requested is shown in the following table:
	
		
			  £000 
			   2007-08 Annual Accounts Surplus/(Deficit)  2008-09 Annual Accounts Surplus/(Deficit)  2009-10 Q2 Forecast Outturn Surplus/(Deficit) 
			 Leeds Primary Care Trust (PCT) 3,312 5,150 5,000 
			 Leeds Teaching Hospital National Health Service Trust 3,093 471 0 
			  Notes: The financial positions of all national health service organisations that report to the Department are published quarterly on the Department's website. These publications also include an assessment of the NHS organisations' performance against the NHS performance framework. This information can be accessed via the following link: www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsStatistics/DH_087335  Source: The Department of Health.

Hospitals: Food

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what measures his Department has put in place to assess patient satisfaction with hospital meals.

Ann Keen: The Department is able to measure and assess patient satisfaction with hospital meals via the Care Quality Commission's annual national in-patient survey.
	This survey asks a sample of patients how they rate hospital food, as well as whether they were offered a choice of food and whether they got enough help from staff to eat their meals. Trusts may also conduct their own patient questionnaires to assess patient satisfaction with hospital meals.

Hospitals: Inspections

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many hospital inspections were carried out by the Care Quality Commission and its predecessors in each of the last three years; and how many visits to hospital premises were made by inspectors from the Care Quality Commission and its predecessors in each of the last three years.

Mike O'Brien: The Care Quality Commission has provided the following information.
	The information is not available in the format requested.
	Since 1 April 2009, there have been 84 inspections of national health service trusts against core standards and 74 inspections of non-NHS acute hospitals. In addition, the Commission has completed 186 health care associated infection inspections of NHS trusts.
	The total number of inspections of independent health care providers for the previous three years carried out by the Healthcare Commission were:
	
		
			   Number 
			 2006-07 412 
			 2007-08 865 
			 2008-09 402 
			  Note This includes all independent health care providers regulated by Healthcare Commission, not all of which are hospitals. 
		
	
	The total number of NHS trusts inspected by the Healthcare Commission against core standards were:
	
		
			   Number 
			 2007-08 79 
			 2008-09 84 
			  Note: This is not the number of individual visits. Some trusts had more than one visit as part of an inspection. 
		
	
	The number of health care-associated inspections of NHS trusts carried out by the Healthcare Commission were:
	
		
			   Number 
			 2007-08 120 
			 2008-09 190 
			  Note: This does not include follow up visits. 
		
	
	These figures do not include service reviews, clinical audits, or any of the investigations undertaken by the Healthcare Commission.

Hotels

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much his Department spent on hotel accommodation for  (a) Ministers,  (b) special advisers and  (c) officials of his Department in each of the last five years.

Phil Hope: Travel by Ministers and civil servants is undertaken in accordance with the Ministerial Code and the Civil Service Management Code respectively and all expenditure has to be incurred in accordance with the principles of managing public money and the Treasury handbook on Regularity and Propriety.
	The amount spent on these expenses is not easily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
	The Cabinet Office publishes an annual list of overseas visits made by Cabinet Ministers costing in excess of £500 dating from 1997 onwards. Details on all Health Ministers overseas travel for 2008-09 can be found on the Cabinet Office website:
	www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/propriety_and_ethics/ministers/travel_gifts.aspx

Leicestershire Primary Care Trust: Diabetes

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much was spent by Leicestershire primary care trust on  (a) diabetes prevention measures,  (b) treatment of diabetes and  (c) treatment of diabetes-related illnesses in each of the last three years.

Ann Keen: The information is not available in the format requested.
	Estimated expenditure on diabetes for Leicester City Teaching Primary Care Trust (PCT) and Leicestershire County and Rutland PCT for 2005-06 to 2007-08 is shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Programme budgeting estimated expenditure on diabetes 2005-06 to 2007-08 
			  £000 
			   Programme budgeting category 04a diabetes 
			  Expenditure on own population  Leicester City Teaching PCT  Leicestershire County and Rutland PCT 
			 2005-06 5,672 8,499 
			 2006-07 7,219 10,371 
			 2007-08 8,156 13,618 
			  Notes: 1. The programme budgeting data collection is complex. Therefore, expenditure figures are best estimates rather than precise measurements. Year on year comparisons are not straightforward due to annual refinements to the data collection methodology and changes to underlying data sources. 2. Diabetes is a subcategory of endocrine, nutritional and metabolic problems. Subcategory level data tend to be less robust than main category data as they are smaller categories and are therefore subject to greater variation. 3. Figures include expenditure across all sectors. Disease specific expenditure does not include expenditure on prevention, or GP expenditure, but does include prescribing expenditure. 4. Programme budgeting data for 2004-05 to 2007-08 are published on the Department website. 2008-09 expenditure data have been collected and are undergoing validation prior to publication.  Source: Annual PCT programme budgeting financial returns

Mental Health Services

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how the new patient right to maximum waiting times proposed for the NHS Constitution will apply to  (a) mental health services,  (b) consultant-led community mental health teams,  (c) psychological therapies for lower level anxiety and depression and  (d) psychological therapies for severe mental illnesses.

Phil Hope: Much of mental health activity will be outside the scope of 18 weeks. However, where these services are consultant-led, the 18-week operational standard applies to referrals to mental health services, consultant-led community mental health teams, psychological therapies for lower level anxiety and depression and psychological therapies for severe mental illnesses.
	Subject to the outcome of The NHS Constitution: A consultation on new patient rights, it is intended that the right will be applied in the same way as the 18 week operational standard.

Mental Health Services

John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what provision for psychotherapy is available under the NHS.

Phil Hope: The Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) programme aims to improve access to evidence-based psychological therapy for people with depression or anxiety disorders, Launched in autumn 2009 and currently delivered in 109 primary care trusts (PCTs), by 2010-11 every PCT in the country will have begun to establish a service.
	Although the IAPT programme had focused initially on cognitive behavioural therapy, the national health service has recently extended a commitment to deliver the full range of National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence-approved interventions including interpersonal therapy, couples therapy, brief dynamic therapy, counselling and collaborative care as services develop from 2010-11.

NHS: Finance

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the assessed value of  (a) NHS-owned land and property in England was in each of the last three years and  (b) NHS-owned land and property in England is that is currently unoccupied.

Mike O'Brien: The information is not collected in the precise format requested. However, the following information is provided.
	The value of land and buildings owned by the national health service is published in their annual financial accounts. These data have been collated centrally and give values for 31 March as:
	
		
			  £ million 
			   Land  Buildings excluding dwellings  Dwellings  Assets under construction 
			 2008-09 8,638 24,616 435 1,731 
			 2007-08 11,275 25,904 508 1,427 
			 2006-07 10,703 24,350 507 1,391 
		
	
	The data are based on that provided electronically to the Department by NHS trusts and primary care trusts and manually collated data from the financial accounts of foundation trusts. The availability and formatting of the foundation trust data means that they will not be complete.
	Information is not collected centrally on NHS owned land and property that is currently unoccupied.

Prescription Drugs

Chris McCafferty: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what recent discussions he has had with patient representative groups about generic drug substitution;
	(2)  if he will take steps to prevent pharmacists from automatically substituting prescribed drugs with their generic equivalents until the proposed generic substitution scheme has been introduced.

Mike O'Brien: We have received representations from a number of patient representative groups about our proposals to implement generic substitution in England but have not met with any in advance of the formal consultation, due very shortly.
	Currently, pharmacists are not able to dispense a generic product where a branded product has been prescribed and this will remain the position until the generic substitution arrangements are introduced.

Smoking

David Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people have given up smoking through NHS programmes in each of the last three years.

Gillian Merron: Information on the number of people in England who have given up smoking(1) in each year from 2006-07 to 2008-09 is provided in table 3, of the national tables published in Statistics on NHS Stop Smoking Services: England, April 2009 to June 2009 (Q1-Quarterly report). The table is replicated as follows.
	This publication has already been placed in the Library and the relevant table is also available on the NHS Information Centre website at:
	www.ic.nhs.uk/webfiles/publications/Health%20 and%20Lifestyles/sss09q1/Stop_Smoking_Services_England _April_09_June_09_Q1_National_Tables.xls
	
		
			  Table 3: Number setting a quit date, successful quitters( 1) , total spend on smoking cessation services and cost per quitter, quarterly and annually from April 2003, England 
			   Number setting a quit date  Number of successful quitters  Percentage who successfully quit  Total expenditure (£000)( 2)  Cost per quitter (£)( 2) 
			  Quarter 1: April to June  
			 2003 68,620 36,573 53 6,360 173.90 
			 2004 104,420 56,192 54 10,114 180.00 
			 2005 145,538 76,495 53 12,155 158.90 
			 2006 137,803 68,901 50 11,813 171.45 
			 2007 171,192 86,781 51 13,173 151.79 
			 2008 149,395 73,361 49 15,739 214.55 
			 2009 163,946 79,351 48 20,450 257.72 
			   
			  Quarter 2: July to September  
			 2003 67,075 35,968 54 8,450 234.93 
			 2004 103,969 56,058 54 10,458 186.56 
			 2005 126,367 65,693 52 11,000 167.45 
			 2006 117,003 59,967 51 11,541 192.45 
			 2007 179,302 89,496 50 12,886 143.98 
			 2008 143,683 70,912 49 17,050 240.44 
			   
			  Quarter 3:  October to December  
			 2003 76,400 43,615 57 9,111 208.90 
			 2004 109,781 62,121 57 10,587 170.42 
			 2005 122,034 66,690 55 12,920 193.73 
			 2006 119,986 63,659 53 12,616 198.18 
			 2007 136,771 71,517 52 14,793 206.85 
			 2008 139,620 71,846 51 18,852 262.39 
			   
			  Quarter 4: January to March  
			 2003 149,129 88,720 59 12,280 138.42 
			 2004 211,397 123,753 59 15,910 128.56 
			 2005 208,881 120,803 58 15,851 131.21 
			 2006 225,618 127,193 56 15,264 120.00 
			 2007 193,024 103,006 53 19,954 193.72 
			 2008 238,561 120,935 51 22,033 182.19 
			   
			  Annual data  
			 2003-04 361,224 204,876 57 36,201 176.70 
			 2004-05 529,567 298,124 56 47,069 157.88 
			 2005-06 602,820 329,681 55 51,927 157.51 
			 2006-07 600,410 319,720 53 51,234 160.25 
			 2007-08 680,289 350,800 52 60,806 173.34 
			 2008-09 671,259 337,054 50 73,675 218.59 
			 (1) A client counted as having successfully quit smoking at the four-week follow-up if he/she has not smoked at all since two weeks after the quit date. (2) These figures exclude expenditure on pharmacotherapies (NRT, bupropin and varenicline).  Source: NHS Information Centre, Lifestyle Statistics.

Smoking: Young People

David Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress has been made in reducing the incidence of smoking in the 11 to 15-year-old age group over the last three years.

Gillian Merron: Information is not available in the format requested.
	Information on the incidence of smoking among young people (defined as regular smokers, occasional smokers and current smokers) is contained within table 2.1 of 'Smoking, Drinking and Drug Use among Young People in England in 2008'. Information is provided by gender and includes the years 2006, 2007 and 2008.
	This publication has been placed in the Library and is also available on the NHS Information Centre website at:
	www.ic.nhs.uk/webfiles/publications/sdd08fullreport/SDD_England_2008_full_report.pdf

Social Security Benefits: Disabled

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will publish the models his Department has produced on changing  (a) disability benefits and  (b) attendance allowance.

Phil Hope: We have not taken any decisions on whether some benefits for older people will be reformed in the new care and support system. If we do decide to integrate some benefits for older people into the new care and support system, we will provide further details in our White Paper next year.
	We have been working with the personal social services research unit (PSSRU) to provide the modelling and analysis to underpin our policy development for the Green and White Papers. We were provided with an interim report from PSSRU in November but that was based on a view of the system when the Green Paper was published. Our core modelling assumptions have changed quite significantly since then as a result of our stakeholder engagement, responses to our consultation and developments such as the Prime Minister's announcement on free personal care. The report is therefore only part of the story and we have come to the conclusion that to publish it now could be unhelpful to the wider debate on the future of care and support.
	The whole methodology of the interim report was published in July on the PSSRU's website at:
	www.pssru.ac.uk/pdf/dp2644.pdf
	The top level costs and benefits are in the impact assessment published with the Green Paper and available on the big care debate website at:
	http://careandsupport.direct.gov.uk/greenpaper/the-green-paper-and-supporting-documents/
	PSSRU continue to model the costs and benefits of a new national care service based on revised assumptions.

Social Security Benefits: Disabled

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the contributions of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on 8 December 2009,  Official Report, column 154, whether the term  (a) equivalent level of support and  (b) no cash losers are equivalent.

Phil Hope: As we said in the Green Paper, if we do reform disability benefits for older people, anyone receiving an affected benefit at the time of reform would continue to receive an equivalent level of support and protection. We have confirmed that this means they would not experience a cash loss as a result of any such reforms.

Social Security Benefits: Disabled

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what effect his policy of no cash losers has on the proposal for reform set out in the Government's social care Green Paper;
	(2)  what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of the policy of no cash losers.

Phil Hope: We think it is important to provide certainty to those people who will be in receipt of disability benefits for older people when we introduce the new National Care Service. If disability benefits for older people were reformed as part of the National Care Service, those receiving the affected benefits at the time of reform would continue to receive the same level of cash support. We will give more details about the National Care Service offer in our White Paper next year, and this will include information on the costs and benefits of a new care and support system.

Social Services

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many representations he has received on paragraphs 5.18 and 5.19 of the impact assessment for the Personal Care at Home Bill.

Phil Hope: To date we have not received any representations on paragraphs 5.18 and 5.19 of the impact assessment of the Personal Care at Home Bill.

Social Services

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health with reference to paragraph 5.28 of the impact assessment for the Personal Care at Home Bill, what estimate he has made of the margin at which an individual may run down savings in order to qualify for free personal care; and what estimate he has made of the  (a) maximum and  (b) minimum numbers of people expected to apply for free personal care.

Phil Hope: Paragraph 5.28 of the impact assessment discusses the incentive to run down savings in order to qualify for free personal care as one of a range of benefits which may in principle result from the proposals. As reducing the savings disincentive is not a primary policy objective of the proposal, an assessment of its possible scale has not been made.
	The expected number of people who will benefit from the Personal Care at Home Bill is shown in Table 2 of the impact assessment. These figures suggest that an estimated 110,000 older people and younger adults will become eligible to receive free personal care, above and beyond those approximately 170,000 people who already receive care for free or the 37,061 people who make a means-tested contribution. For the purposes of the impact assessment, it has been assumed that 100 per cent. of those estimated to become eligible will apply for free personal care, since it is likely that those individuals who do not choose to receive free care organised by their council may choose instead to receive the equivalent sum in the form of a personal health budget.

Social Services

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what funding streams he has identified for the reform of the social care system.

Phil Hope: In the Green Paper Shaping the Future of Care and Support Together, we said that Government must make sure that the money it is spending on care and support is being used in the most effective way. However, as a society, we will have to spend more money on care and support to meet the needs and expectations of people who will need care and support in the future. The Green Paper sets out different ways that this could be achieved.
	In addition, we said that there is a case for drawing some funding streams together to enable us to deliver the new and better care and support system we want to create. We think we should consider integrating some elements of disability benefits for older people, for example attendance allowance, to create a new offer for individuals with care needs.
	We have ruled out any incorporation of disability living allowance for under-65s into the new National Care Service.

Social Services: Public Consultation

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many Big Care Debate events have been held since the publication of the Green Paper on shaping the future of care together, in July 2009; in which Parliamentary constituencies these events have been held; and which hon. and right hon. Members have been  (a) invited to attend these events and  (b) are recorded as having attended these events.

Phil Hope: During the Green Paper consultation period, the Department organised 80 roadshows for the public, and 37 events for stakeholders. They were held in the following constituencies: Ashford; Basingstoke; Bath; Bedford; Bethnal Green and Bow; Birmingham, Ladywood; Blackpool South; Bognor Regis and Littlehampton; Bournemouth East; Bournemouth West; Brecon and Radnorshire; Brighton, Pavilion; Bristol East; Carlisle; Cities of London and Westminster; City of York; Crawley; Croydon Central; Darlington; Dartford; Derby South; Dudley South; Ealing, Acton and Shepherd's Bush; Exeter; Harborough; Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle; Lancaster and Wyre; Leeds Central; Leicester South; Leicester West; Lincoln; Liverpool, Riverside; Manchester Central; Morley and Rothwell; Newcastle upon Tyne Central; North East Milton Keynes; North Swindon; North West Durham; Northampton South; Norwich North; Norwich South; Nottingham South; Nuneaton; Oxford West and Abingdon; Peterborough; Poplar and Canning Town; Reading East; Rugby and Kenilworth; Sheffield Central; Sheffield, Attercliffe; Southampton, Itchen; Stoke-on-Trent Central; Stretford and Urmston; Taunton; Telford; Tunbridge Wells; Tyne Bridge; Vauxhall; and Wolverhampton South West.
	The following hon. and right hon. Members were invited to attend Big Care Debate stakeholder events located in the Government Office Region for which they were responsible as Regional Ministers: the hon. Member for Dudley, North (Mr. Austin); the right hon. Member for Newcastle upon Tyne, East and Wallsend (Mr. Brown); the hon. Member for Stevenage (Barbara Follett); the right hon. Member for Dulwich and West Norwood (Tessa Jowell); the right hon. Member for South Dorset (Jim Knight); the hon. Member for Chatham and Aylesford (Jonathan Shaw); the right hon. Member for Doncaster, Central (Ms Winterton); and the hon. Member for Oldham, East and Saddleworth (Mr. Woolas).
	We have on record that the Secretary of State for Health, the Minister of State for Care Services and the Regional Minister for Yorkshire and Humber each attended one or more Big Care Debate events.

Sunbeds: Research

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent research his Department has  (a) commissioned and  (b) evaluated on the use of ultraviolet tanning equipment by minors; and if he will make a statement.

Gillian Merron: The Department has recently commissioned, through Cancer Research UK, two large face-to-face surveys of sunbed use in over 9,000 children aged 11 to 17 in England. The first of these established that 6 per cent. of 11 to 17-year-olds had used a sunbed. A letter detailing some of the findings was published in the British Medical Journal on 13 November 2009. Further information on sunbed use by children and young people can be found at:
	www.comare.org.uk/documents/COMARE13thReport.pdf

Swine Flu: Disease Control

Jacqui Lait: To ask the Secretary of State for Health for what reasons general practitioners are required to provide monthly returns to his Department on swine influenza injections giving the  (a) date of birth,  (b) diagnostic code and  (c) date of injection of each patient; and to what use this information is required.

Gillian Merron: Monthly data on swine influenza (H1N1) vaccinations are collected from all general practitioners in order that the number of people in the priority and age groups for vaccination that have been vaccinated can be determined and followed through time.
	These data are important to collect as they allow the progress of the vaccination programme to be monitored and they inform the management of the programme and planning of any extension to it.

Swine Flu: Telephone Services

John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many telephone calls have been dealt with by the swine influenza hotline in each month since it came into operation.

Gillian Merron: The Department collects data on telephone calls to both the Swine Flu Information Line and the National Pandemic Flu Service (NPFS). The monthly data for each are provided as follows.
	
		
			  Swine Flu Information Line 
			   Number 
			 April 2009 14,492 
			 May 2009 128,446 
			 June 2009 53,755 
			 July 2009 578,698 
			 August 2009 201,887 
			 September 2009 92,689 
			 October 2009 152,604 
			 November 2009 158,243 
			 Total 1,380,814 
		
	
	
		
			  National Pandemic Flu Service 
			   Contact type 
			   Telephone  Web  Total 
			 July 2009 n/a n/a 613,407 
			 August 2009 (1-15) n/a n/a 418,270 
			 August 2009 (16-31) 80,437 73,357 153,794 
			 September 2009 166,820 138,650 305,470 
			 October 2009 297,896 211,044 508,940 
			 November 2009 238,896 171,496 410,392 
			 Total 784,049 594,547 2,410,273 
		
	
	We cannot provide a breakdown of the calls made to the NPFS before 16 August as the system in place, prior to that time, could not do this.

Tourette Syndrome

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what provision is made in the training of general practitioners to enable them to recognise and support people with Tourette syndrome; and if he will make a statement.

Ann Keen: The content of curriculum and quality and standard of training for general practitioners is not the responsibility of the Department but the responsibility of the appropriate professional regulatory body.
	However, the Department is committed to working with the professional regulatory bodies, royal colleges and others to promote high standards of education and training to ensure that doctors are equipped with the up-to-date knowledge, skills and attitudes essential for professional practice.

CHILDREN, SCHOOLS AND FAMILIES

Academies: National Curriculum Tests

Paul Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families for what reasons academies at which pupils do not take standard assessment tests are included in the statistics for these tests; and if he will make a statement.

Vernon Coaker: holding answer 14 December 2009
	Academies, like maintained schools, have a responsibility to administer National Curriculum tests at Key Stage 2 as part of their Funding Agreement. It is a requirement that the results of all schools are published in the Key Stage 2 tables.

Academies: Sponsorship

Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families whether a final date for full payment of sponsorship funding is agreed between his Department and the sponsor of each academy school.

Vernon Coaker: There are two types of sponsorship payments for Academies: traditional procurement and the endowment model. For traditional procurement Academies sponsorship payments are a contribution to the capital cost of constructing Academy buildings. Under this model, the timing of the receipt of cash sponsorship varies from academy to academy and is agreed as part of the Funding Agreement between the Department and the academy.
	With the endowment model, sponsors establish an endowment fund which generates revenue for the Academy Company to use to counteract the impact of deprivation on the communities they serve. Under this model, receipts to the Academy Trust are made once the academy has opened, and usually over a period of five years. This is also agreed as part of the Funding Agreement between the Department and the academy.
	In some instances, under both models, the Department has provided sponsors with some flexibility over the timing of payments made. These are considered on a case by case basis but we would expect sponsors to pay the amounts pledged.

Antisocial Behaviour

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many respect zones there have been in each year since 2007; how much funding each zone has received in each year; and what funding they can expect to receive in each of the next three years, broken down by funding stream.

Vernon Coaker: holding answer 3 December 2009
	The Respect Programme was a success and most of the commitments in the Government's Respect Action Plan have been met or are in train and have been taken into the heart of programmes across Government and in local service delivery.
	The 47 local authorities entitled 'Respect' areas no longer hold this title but continue to receive funding to tackle antisocial behaviour, provide parenting programmes and deliver Family Intervention Projects, the previous requisite elements of being a Respect area.
	The funding provided to these areas to continue delivery of these elements of the Respect programme for each of the years from 2007 to 2011 is outlined as follows:
	
		
			  £ 
			   2007-08  2008-09  2009-10  2010-11 
			 Anti-social behaviour grant (area based grant) 3,329,719 3,429,719 3,429,719 3,429,719 
			 Family intervention project (ASB) 8,129,474 5,414,998 3,798,051 3,798,051 
			 Parenting practitioners 2,300,000 2,350,000 2,300,000 2,300,000

Building Schools for the Future Programme

Brian Iddon: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what proportion of Building Schools for the Future funding has been spent on laboratories for practical science in each of the last four years; and whether he has plans to prioritise school science in the next Building Schools for the Future funding round.

Vernon Coaker: The Department for Children, Schools and Families does not collect information about the funding of particular types of space.
	However, we know that over the last four years 81 new secondary schools have been built with the benefit of Building Schools for the Future (BSF) funding, at an average cost of £25 million. As each of these schools will have facilities for teaching practical science totalling on average 8 to 10 per cent. of the gross floor area, the cost of providing science accommodation at all these schools can be estimated at around £162 million to £203 million. In the same period, 27 schools have been refurbished and/or extended with BSF funding and many of these projects are likely to include improvements to science accommodation.
	The aim of BSF, the largest capital investment programme for 50 years, is to provide world-class teaching and learning environments across the whole curriculum, including science. The Department does not intend, therefore, to prioritise school science in future BSF rounds.
	The Department is committed to excellent science accommodation, demonstrated by Project Faraday which has developed exemplar designs for school laboratories to meet the needs of 21(st) century practical science teaching. These exemplar projects, many of which are already built, will inform and inspire all those involved in BSF.
	For more information on Project Faraday see:
	www.teachernet.gov.uk/schoolbuildings/

CAFCASS: Complaints

Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what procedures the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service has in place for handling complaints received regarding the accuracy of its reports; and if he will make a statement.

Dawn Primarolo: CAFCASS has a formal complaints procedure, which includes complaints about the accuracy of reports. A copy of this procedure has been placed in the House Libraries. CAFCASS Cymru operate a parallel service in Wales on behalf of the Welsh Assembly Government and a copy of their representation and complaints procedure can be obtained from CAFCASS Cymru.

Children: Video Games

Nigel Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what recent research his Department has  (a) commissioned and  (b) evaluated on the (i) level of access by people under the age of 18 years to video games featuring scenes of violence with an 18-rated classification and (ii) potential effects on the behaviour and development of such people of that access.

Dawn Primarolo: As part of her review of the effects of the internet and computer games on young people, Dr Tanya Byron commissioned extensive research into how video games impact children. This research looked at the issues such as addiction, violence and inappropriate content in games. The research concluded that there is no clear evidence either way about harmful impact on young people in terms of it creating violent behaviour.
	The UK Council for Child Internet Safety (UKCCIS) is taking forward the review's recommendations, with special emphasis on the impact that online games have on children. The Byron review also recognised that more research into games is needed, especially given the pace of change in the medium. The Council has established an Experts' Research Panel to look at ways to deepen our understanding of the issues.
	Classification formed an important part of the review and Professor Byron recommended a review of the classification of games and following the review this year we are strengthening the games classification system to extend statutory protection to all material suitable for those aged 12 or over. The recommendations also included working with Trading Standards officers on assessing underage sales of video games. Investigating the issue was accepted as a priority by the Executive Board of UKCCIS and the Council has commissioned work with local partners to investigate the issue.

Children's Centres

John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families 
	(1)  what his most recent assessment is of the effectiveness of Sure Start children's centres in reducing child poverty;
	(2)  what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of Sure Start children's centres for low income families.

Dawn Primarolo: Sure Start children's centres both improve children's life chances and help parents into training and employment. All children's centres have links with Job Centre Plus, and in 10 local authorities Job Centre Plus advisers are placed full time in children's centres, helping parents on their journey into work. Children's centres are improving children's life chances: evidence shows that three-year-olds in areas with Sure Start Local Programmes displayed above-average levels of social development and positive social behaviour.
	For more information on the evidence of the benefits of Children's Centres to low income families I refer my hon. Friend to the reply given on 10 November 2009,  Official Report, column 354W, to my hon. Friend the Member for Wirral, South (Ben Chapman).

Children's Centres

John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families 
	(1)  what recent representations he has received on increasing the number of Sure Start children's centres;
	(2)  how many people use Sure Start children's centres in Leeds, West constituency.

Dawn Primarolo: Local authorities are responsible for rolling out Sure Start Children's Centre programmes in their areas. We are on track to achieve the national target for at least 3,500 centres by March 2010, offering access to services for all children under five and their families.
	The Department does not collect information centrally about the numbers of children and families accessing individual Sure Start Children's Centres. We expect local authorities and children's centres to collect data on the take up of services as part of their local performance management arrangements. The Leeds, West constituency currently has seven Sure Start Children's Centres offering services to approximately 5,500 children under five and their families. There are no further centres planned for this constituency.

Children's Centres

Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families with reference to the answer of 12 October 2009,  Official Report, column 201W, on children: social services, what the monetary value is of the contract met centrally by his Department for the Together for Children consortium to provide support for the delivery of Sure Start children's centres since October 2006.

Dawn Primarolo: Together for Children, a consortium of Serco, Tempus Resourcing Ltd., 4Children and Continyou, was contracted as the Department's delivery partner for Sure Start children's centres in October 2006 to provide support to local authorities to plan and deliver their children's centre programmes. The following table gives details of the monetary value of the contract for each year since its commencement which is met centrally by the Department.
	
		
			  Financial year  Total cost (excluding VAT)  (£ million) 
			 2006/07 3.4 
			 2007/08 6.5 
			 2008/09 7.2 
			 2009/10(1) 7.5 
			 2010/11(1) 3.7 
			 (1) Estimated costs on current workplans.

Children's Centres: Barnsley

Jeff Ennis: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many people have children at Sure Start children's centres in Barnsley East and Mexborough constituency.

Dawn Primarolo: There are 19 designated Sure Start Children's Centres in Barnsley local authority, reaching just over 12,800 children under five and their families. Of these, two are in the Barnsley East and Mexborough constituency, reaching around 1200 children under five and their families.
	Reach defines those children and families with the opportunity to access Sure Start Children's Centres. Figures for the number of people actually using children's centres are not collected centrally.

Departmental Electronic Equipment

Greg Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many plasma screen televisions his Department has purchased since 2001; and what the cost has been of purchasing and installing such screens in each such year.

Diana Johnson: Records show that the Department procured 17 plasma screens since 2001. The cost of purchasing and installing these screens (excluding VAT) in each such year was £28,281.75 in 2001; £11,764.01 in 2003; £19,134 in 2006 and £15,480 in 2007.
	These were mainly purchased to provide a videoconferencing service to the Department's four sites and to stream internal content within the Department.

Departmental Freedom of Information

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many requests under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 his Department received in 2008; and how many of these received a substantive response within 20 days.

Diana Johnson: Statistics published by the Ministry of Justice on Freedom of Information in central Government for 2008 show that of a total of 554 non-routine requests received by the Department (based on aggregated quarterly data) 88 per cent. (485) received a substantive response within 20 days. 92 per cent. (511) of requests were dealt with 'in time', that is within 20 days by meeting the deadline or other permitted extension deadline.
	The statistics can be found on the Ministry of Justice website at:
	http://www.Justice.gov.uk/publications/freedomofinformationquarterly.htm
	and copies are available in the House Libraries.

Departmental Manpower

Crispin Blunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many staff of his Department were in its redeployment pool on 1  (a) January,  (b) April,  (c) July and  (d) October 2009.

Diana Johnson: The figures for staff in the Department that were without permanent posts on the dates specified are  (a) 11 in January 09,  (b) 9 in April 09,  (c) 12 in July 09 and  (d) 22 in October 09.
	All individuals without permanent posts are actively engaged in work during this transition period, on either key projects or short-term business priorities. These individuals are known as priority movers and they are given individual tailored support to find suitable permanent posts.

Departmental Temporary Employment

Jonathan Djanogly: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much his Department has spent on employing agency workers in each of the last five years.

Diana Johnson: The DCSF was created on 28 June 2007. Spend on agency staff since then is set out in the following table:
	
		
			   Agency (£) 
			 July 2007 to December 2007 333,000 
			 January 2008 to December 2008 1,219,000 
			 January 2009 to October 2009 1,263,000 
		
	
	Spend on agency staff is historically higher during the first half of the year due to, in part, to the need to recruit agency staff to work on the school census. This explains the lower than expected number for the six months of 2007.

Departmental Written Questions

John Mason: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many questions tabled for answer on a named day his Department received in each of the last 12 months; and to how many such questions his Department provided a substantive answer on the day named.

Diana Johnson: The information requested is in the following table.
	
		
			  1 December 2008 to 15 December 2009 inclusive 
			   Tabled  Replied to on named day 
			 December 2008 42 20 
			 January 2009 77 42 
			 February 2009 75 34 
			 March 2009 83 51 
			 April 2009 65 46 
			 May 2009 71 51 
			 June 2009 49 34 
			 July 2009 15 12 
			 August 2009 n/a n/a 
			 September 2009 38 31 
			 October 2009 69 46 
			 November 2009 82 46 
			 December 2009 47 34 
		
	
	Central guidance on answering parliamentary questions is now available in the 'Guide to Parliamentary Work', at:
	http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/parliamentarv-clerk-guide.aspx
	In the response to the Procedure Committee Report on written parliamentary questions, the Government accepted the Committee's recommendation that Departments be required to provide the Procedure Committee with sessional statistics in a standard format on the time taken to respond to written parliamentary questions, accompanied by an explanatory memorandum setting out any factors affecting their performance. This will be taken forward as soon as possible.

Ecosystem Project

Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what recent estimate he has made of the cost of Becta's learning resources ecosystem project.

Diana Johnson: Becta has allocated £150,000 for this initiative, which is designed to make it easier for learners, teachers and parents to access many millions of pounds worth of existing learning content. This will result in efficiency savings by reducing teacher workload, while improving the quality of the learning experience and value for money for schools.

Extracurricular Activities

John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families 
	(1)  what plans his Department has to support the development of after-school clubs;
	(2)  what recent estimate he has made of the average number of after-school activity clubs in schools in Leeds, West constituency;
	(3)  what his most recent assessment is of the effectiveness of after-school clubs in reducing levels of youth crime;
	(4)  what his most recent assessment is of the effectiveness of after-school clubs in improving academic achievement.

Dawn Primarolo: The Department does not collect data on the number of after school clubs. However, over £1 billion in funding is being made available to ensure all schools are offering access to the core offer of extended services by 2010. This includes access to a rich and varied menu of before and after school activities from 8 am to 6 pm and during school holidays where there is demand. In England, over 19,800 (92 per cent. of) schools are already providing access to the core offer of extended services; the Government expect all maintained schools to be doing so by 2010.
	In the constituency of Leeds, West, 30 schools (93 per cent.) are offering the full range of extended services.
	The evidence to date points to the positive effect extended services are having on pupil motivation, behaviour, attendance and disposition to learning. Before and after school clubs not only offer extended learning opportunities but also provide children and young people with the opportunity to participate in diversionary activities which are fun and delivered in an environment which is safe.
	The Department will continue to monitor the effectiveness of the policy as it beds in and more data become available. Previous evaluation from the Full Service Extended Schools research (Cummings C, Dyson A, Muijs D, Papps I, Pearson D, Raffo C, Tiplady L and Todd L 2007 Evaluation of the Full Service Extended Schools Initiative), as well as reports by Ofsted (Ofsted, 2006 Extended services in schools and children's centres, Ofsted, 2008, How well are they doing? The impact of Children's Centres and Extended Schools) provided some qualitative evidence of a positive impact on pupil attainment. These were based on case study evidence of views, perceptions and observations of practitioners and teachers in the context of individual school case studies.

Free School Meals

John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what plans his Department has to extend the provision of free school meals.

Diana Johnson: As part of the pre-Budget report, the Chancellor has announced a phased roll out of free school meals to primary children from low income families, who are in receipt of work-related benefits, starting with 50 per cent. of eligible children in September 2010, and with full roll out in 2011. He also announced an extension to the universal free school meal pilots for primary children so that there is a pilot in each English region.

Free School Meals: Leeds

John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many  (a) primary and  (b) secondary school pupils receive free schools meals in Leeds, West constituency.

Diana Johnson: The requested information is shown in the table, together with the numbers of children eligible for free school meals.
	
		
			  Maintained primary( 1)  and state-funded secondary( 1, 2)  schools: School meal arrangements as at January 2009 in Leeds, West parliamentary constituency 
			   Number on roll( 3)  Number of pupils taking free school meals( 4)  Percentage taking free school meals  Number of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals( 3)  Percentage known to be eligible for free school meals 
			 Primary(1) 6,760 1,400 20.7 1,740 25.7 
			 Secondary(1, 2) 3,690 710 19.3 950 25.7 
			 (1) Includes middle schools as deemed. (2) Includes City Technology colleges and academies. (3) Includes sole and dual (main) registrations. (4) Number of pupils taking a free school meal on the day of the census. Those eligible may choose not to take up their offer of a free school meal for various reasons e.g. through preference or through non-attendance on the day.  Note: Pupil numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10.  Source: School Census

Freud Communications: Public Relations

Nick Hurd: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what the monetary value is of the communications contract his Department has awarded to Freud Communications; which Minister approved the contract; and if he will place in the Library a copy of the contract under which such payments have been made.

Diana Johnson: The contract with Freud Communications to deliver the Year of Music, approved by the Secretary of State, is £1 million across the two financial years 2009-10 and 2010-11. This covers all costs associated with the project with Freud acting as the sole agency working with DCSF to delivery this initiative.
	DCSF is aiming to reflect COI's new (to be standard) measures for assessing the impact of PR activity and so the contract is currently still in draft. A copy of the invitation to tender document against which the contract was drawn up has been placed in the House Libraries.

Homosexuality

Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what guidance his Department issues to  (a) primary and  (b) secondary schools on educating pupils on tolerance of homosexuality.

Vernon Coaker: The Department has sent out a strong message that bullying is not acceptable in our schools, making it clear that all forms of bullying, including those motivated by prejudice, must not be tolerated and should always incur disciplinary sanctions. Homophobic bullying can negatively affect a young person's attainment and future life chances. In order to ensure that schools have the most practical and accessible tools at their disposal to prevent and tackle homophobic bullying, the Department published guidance, which gives schools the knowledge and expertise to tackle homophobic bullying.
	The Department's Sex and Relationship Education Guidance (2004) issued to all schools makes it clear that schools should teach about all types of relationships that exist within society, including homosexual relationships. Both primary and secondary schools should address the underlying attitudes and values that underpin homophobic bullying as part of a well planned and age-appropriate programme of sex and relationships education (SRE).
	We are issuing revised SRE guidance to schools next year and it is our intention that the revised guidance will reinforce this message.

MyCurriculum

Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what recent estimate he has made of the cost of the Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency's MyCurriculum initiative.

Iain Wright: There is no cost to the Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency from the Mycurriculum.com initiative, which has been entirely funded from the revenue of the self-funding commercial arm of QCDA-the registered company QCA (Enterprises) Ltd. This is a pilot of an initiative intended to bring significant benefits to teachers in creating, developing and collaborating on learning resources and activities, allowing teachers to share best practice.

National Safeguarding Delivery Unit

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families 
	(1)  how often the National Safeguarding Delivery Unit has met since it became active on 1 July 2009; what work the Unit has undertaken since it became active; how many times the Unit has reported to  (a) the Cabinet sub-committee on families, children and young people and  (b) the Children, Schools and Families Select Committee; and on what dates those reports were made;
	(2)  who is employed on the National Safeguarding Delivery Unit; and at what pay scales;
	(3)  pursuant to his answer of 6 July 2009,  Official Report, columns 594-95W, on the national safeguarding delivery unit, for what reasons the National Safeguarding Delivery Unit's work programme has not yet been published; and when he expects it to be published.

Dawn Primarolo: The new cross-Government National Safeguarding Delivery Unit (NSDU) became operational on 1 July 2009. The NSDU is an operational unit of 27 staff, co-located in the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF), drawn from the DCSF, the Ministry of Justice, Department of Health, and Home Office, as well as secondees from local authorities.
	The unit was established to drive forward the implementation of the Government's response to Lord Laming, giving strong, co-ordinated national leadership across the safeguarding system and to provide support and challenge to local authorities and their partners in driving up the quality of front-line practice. The unit will continue to work with a wide range of partners, including front-line practitioners and their managers, to develop further and take forward the priorities, all of which are designed to help improve safeguarding practice and outcomes for children and young people.
	The grades and associated pay scales of NSDU staff are set out in the following table.
	
		
			  Grade  Number of people in the NSDU at this scale  D C S F pay scales( 1)  (£) 
			 SCS pay band 1A 1 67,600-128,900 
			 SCS pay band 1 2 57,300-90,000 
			 Grade 6 6 57,000-67,830 
			 Grade 7 7 47,625-56,100 
			 Senior executive officer 4 35,629-40,062 
			 Higher executive officer 3 29,571-32,666 
			 Executive officer 4 24,298-26,715 
			 (1) Pay scales vary between Government Departments as a result of devolved pay bargaining arrangements 
		
	
	The work of the unit is overseen by a programme board of senior officials. The unit has submitted two progress reports to the DA(FCY) ministerial sub-group in July and December.
	The unit works closely with, and supports, the chief adviser on the Safety of Children who is due to submit the first of his annual reports to Parliament by April 2010.
	The NSDU's work programme will be published shortly and will include a summary of progress on the unit's work to date. It was decided to postpone the publication of this work programme in order to allow the new head of unit, who took up post on 7 December, to be consulted. The delay has not prevented the unit's work from being taken forward: significant progress has been made, as will be set out in the work programme that will be published.

Pupil Exclusions

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what support is provided by local authorities for children who have been excluded from school as a result of their Tourette syndrome; and if he will make a statement.

Diana Johnson: School governing bodies have a statutory duty to do their best to ensure that the necessary provision is made for any pupil who has special educational needs. The Department's statutory guidance on exclusions states that schools should try every practicable means to maintain the pupil in school, including seeking local authority (LA) and other professional advice and support at School Action Plus or, where appropriate, asking the LA to consider carrying out a statutory assessment.
	During the first five days of a permanent exclusion, the LA should arrange to assess the pupil's needs and how to meet them. From the sixth day of a permanent exclusion, the LA is statutorily responsible for ensuring that suitable full-time education is provided to pupils of compulsory school age. Tourettes is often treated with a combination of drugs and behavioural therapy, and any educational intervention needs to follow appropriate local professional advice.

Pupils: Bexley

David Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what estimate he has made of the number of pupils in the London borough of Bexley who attended secondary schools in  (a) Dartford borough,  (b) the London borough of Bromley and  (c) the London borough of Greenwich in the last three years.

Vernon Coaker: The requested data are set out in the following table.
	
		
			  Number of pupils( 1)  resident in the London borough of Bexley and attending secondary( 2 ) schools in Dartford borough, Bromley and Greenwich. 
			   2009  2008  2007 
			 Dartford borough 546 528 577 
			 London borough of Bromley 612 599 634 
			 London borough of Greenwich 662 717 711 
			 (1) For 2007 pupils age five to 15. For 2008 and 2009 pupils in national curriculum year groups R to 11. (2) Secondary school includes maintained secondary schools, academies and CTCs.  Source: School Census

School Meals: Finance

Nick Hurd: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what payments the School Food Trust has made to Tetra Strategy in the last 12 months; for what purpose; and if he will place in the Library a copy of the contract under which such payments have been made.

Diana Johnson: The School Food Trust has paid Tetra Strategy £5,750 for the provision of desk research services during the financial year 2009/10. The terms of reference will be placed in the House Libraries.

Schools: Energy

John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what advice and assistance his Department provides to schools to enable them to reduce their energy use.

Diana Johnson: DCSF supports schools in reducing their energy in a number of ways. Under advice from the Department's Zero Carbon Task Force, DCSF has recently contracted with British Gas to provide display energy meters to all schools that wish to have one installed. The meters will enable schools to easily monitor their energy usage, and research shows that meters are an effective way of helping users of buildings to manage their energy demands.
	The display meter offer builds on the Department's Sustainable Schools framework that has been promoted over a number of years by DCSF and through the Government Office network. The framework encourages action on energy reduction and provides guidance including top tips on how this can be achieved.
	The Department also promotes to schools the use of energy contracts that are consistent with criteria considered value for money by the Office of Government Commerce.

Schools: Energy

John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what  (a) grants and  (b) other assistance have been provided to schools in Leeds, West to help them reduce their energy bills; and if he will make a statement.

Vernon Coaker: In December 2007 the Department set a requirement to reduce carbon emissions from new school buildings by 60 per cent. relative to the energy efficiency standards set out in the 2002 Building Regulations.
	Additional funding (£50/m(2)) was allocated to approximately 200 secondary schools to help meet this target. The Department has requested that completed carbon calculations are submitted for each of these projects so that proposed measures can be monitored and their effectiveness in meeting the target reduction can be evaluated in future. Currently West Leeds Academy is the only school to have completed the carbon calculation in Leeds, West. The school is therefore eligible to receive the additional funding. The planned opening date for West Leeds Academy is September 2011.
	The Energy Savings Trust funding database(1 )contains details of a wide range of funds relevant to local authorities, housing associations and community groups. This searchable database contains details of around 100 funds for energy efficiency improvements, the installation of renewable energy and other initiatives to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide.
	The Low Carbon Buildings Programme(2) (LCBP) also gives grants for match funding of microgeneration technologies for schools. Phase 2 of this scheme continues on from the phase 1 scheme that provided funding to schools from March 2007. Two schools in Leeds, Garforth Community College and Kippax North Junior and Infants School have benefited from LCBP funding.
	(1)http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/business/Business/Resources/Search-for-available-funding
	(2) http://www.lowcarbonbuildingsphase2.org.uk/index.jsp

Schools: Lancashire

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families in how many  (a) primary and  (b) secondary schools in East Lancashire 80 per cent. or more pupils are from visible ethnic minorities.

Vernon Coaker: Information on ethnicity of pupils is not available in the form requested.
	The latest available information on ethnicity of pupils is published at national and local authority level at:
	http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000843/index.shtml

Schools: Leeds

John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families 
	(1)  how many  (a) teachers,  (b) teaching assistants and  (c) support staff were employed in Leeds local education authority schools in each year since 1997;
	(2)  how many teaching assistants there are in  (a) Leeds, West constituency and  (b) West Yorkshire.

Vernon Coaker: The information requested for Leeds local authority for January 1997, 2001 to 2009 is published in tables 19, 25 and 26 of the Statistical First Release (SFR) School Workforce in England (including local authority level figures) January 2009 (Revised) published on 29 September 2009. The SFR is available at the following web link:
	http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000874/Tables19to27_Vals.xls
	The information requested for Leeds local authority for January 1998 to 2000 is published in tables 19, 25 and 26 of the Statistical First Release (SFR) School Workforce in England (including local authority level figures) January 2008 (Revised) published on 25 September 2008. The SFR is available at the following web link:
	http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000813/SFR262008_Tables_LA20081021-2.xls
	In January 2009 there were 320 full-time equivalent teaching assistants in service in local authority maintained schools in Leeds, West constituency and 9,000 in West Yorkshire.

Schools: Rural Areas

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many rural  (a) primary and  (b) secondary schools were opened in each year since 1997.

Diana Johnson: The following table provides details of the 22 additional new maintained mainstream schools that have been established since 2000 and designated as 'rural' at the time of their establishment. We do not have reliable information about decisions made prior to 2000.
	
		
			  Types  2000  2001  2002  2003  2004  2005  2006  2007  2008  2009  Total 
			  Phase/ Additional new rural school:
			 Primary 1 6 8 2 1 1 1 - 1 - 21 
			 Secondary - - 1 - - - - - - - 1 
			 Sub-total 1 6 9 2 1 1 1 0 1 0 22 
		
	
	Local authorities are responsible for school place provision. Where a new school is proposed a statutory process must be followed which is then decided locally under established decision making arrangements. Ministers have no direct role in the process.

Schools: Yorkshire and the Humber

John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families 
	(1)  what plans he has to rebuild and refurbish  (a) primary and  (b) secondary schools in (i) Leeds, West constituency, (ii) Leeds City and (iii) West Yorkshire;
	(2)  how many  (a) primary and  (b) secondary schools in (i) Leeds, West constituency and (ii) West Yorkshire have been rebuilt or refurbished since 1997.

Vernon Coaker: In July the Department carried out a survey of all local authorities to gather data on how capital investment in schools has been spent and plans through to 2011. These data are now being validated and reconciled with a similar survey that was carried out in 2007. I will write to my hon. Friend by the end of February 2010 to provide the information requested.

Special Educational Needs

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many pupils with statements of special educational need in each local authority area have been educated in schools outside their local authority area of residence in each year since 1997.

Diana Johnson: holding answer 2 December 2009
	The requested information is shown in the following table for the years 2003, 2007, 2008 and 2009. Information for years prior to 2003 is not available on a comparable basis, and information for the remaining years can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	
		
			  Pupils with statements of Special Educational Needs (SEN) resident in each local authority area( 1)  in maintained schools( 2)  and non-maintained special schools 
			Number of pupils with a statement of SEN educated outside their resident local authority 
			   Resident local authority  2003  2007  2008  2009 
			 A  North East 
			 841 Darlington 25 22 19 20 
			 840 Durham 170 134 118 120 
			 390 Gateshead 104 85 64 52 
			 805 Hartlepool 43 42 31 24 
			 806 Middlesbrough 57 37 34 30 
			 391 Newcastle upon Tyne 83 101 84 85 
			 392 North Tyneside 46 32 33 28 
			 929 Northumberland 92 99 89 103 
			 807 Redcar and Cleveland 98 94 86 81 
			 393 South Tyneside 33 21 21 30 
			 808 Stockton-on-Tees 67 54 52 48 
			 394 Sunderland 66 40 40 47 
			   
			 B  North West 
			 889 Blackburn with Darwen 69 76 68 67 
			 890 Blackpool 66 39 37 33 
			 350 Bolton 69 51 41 37 
			 351 Bury 84 90 95 89 
			 875 Cheshire 85 79 84 88 
			 895 Cheshire East(3) n/a n/a n/a 308 
			 896 Cheshire West and Cheshire(3) n/a n/a n/a 94 
			 909 Cumbria 15 20 25 20 
			 876 Halton 97 81 65 45 
			 340 Knowsley 97 90 85 90 
			 888 Lancashire 318 278 281 282 
			 341 Liverpool 98 68 59 49 
			 352 Manchester 194 222 215 207 
			 353 Oldham 34 25 16 19 
			 354 Rochdale 64 69 69 64 
			 355 Salford 84 72 74 84 
			 343 Sefton 73 67 62 62 
			 342 St. Helens 64 47 41 40 
			 356 Stockport 83 81 85 49 
			 357 Tameside 68 56 51 57 
			 358 Trafford 105 103 103 106 
			 877 Warrington 80 72 69 65 
			 359 Wigan 84 69 68 69 
			 344 Wirral 64 47 37 34 
			   
			 D  Yorkshire and the Humber 
			 370 Barnsley 58 61 63 67 
			 380 Bradford 100 106 126 120 
			 381 Calderdale 27 41 37 37 
			 371 Doncaster 35 48 45 44 
			 811 East Riding of Yorkshire 143 209 201 210 
			 810 Kingston Upon Hull, City of 147 65 76 70 
			 382 Kirklees 67 57 62 59 
			 383 Leeds 74 60 52 53 
			 812 North East Lincolnshire 47 45 42 43 
			 813 North Lincolnshire 70 43 37 35 
			 815 North Yorkshire 133 125 122 114 
			 372 Rotherham 35 44 35 29 
			 373 Sheffield 52 54 53 48 
			 384 Wakefield 53 30 33 28 
			 816 York 15 18 19 22 
			   
			 E  East Midlands 
			 831 Derby 50 48 51 51 
			 830 Derbyshire 208 272 245 223 
			 856 Leicester 208 207 181 173 
			 855 Leicestershire 314 238 205 192 
			 925 Lincolnshire 100 123 118 110 
			 928 Northamptonshire 96 86 85 88 
			 892 Nottingham 83 67 71 70 
			 891 Nottinghamshire 145 152 150 145 
			 857 Rutland 15 20 21 23 
			   
			 F  West Midlands 
			 330 Birmingham 162 220 235 262 
			 331 Coventry 35 34 43 39 
			 332 Dudley 68 89 87 85 
			 884 Herefordshire 26 24 20 13 
			 333 Sandwell 129 135 133 121 
			 893 Shropshire 154 97 94 90 
			 334 Solihull 53 85 88 91 
			 860 Staffordshire 238 207 193 178 
			 861 Stoke-on-Trent 243 209 223 229 
			 894 Telford and Wrekin 34 22 21 28 
			 335 Walsall 75 83 91 94 
			 937 Warwickshire 123 120 121 128 
			 336 Wolverhampton 73 65 66 67 
			 885 Worcestershire 60 95 80 90 
			   
			 G  East of England 
			 822 Bedford(3) n/a n/a n/a 74 
			 820 Bedfordshire 82 71 77 68 
			 873 Cambridgeshire 125 112 110 96 
			 823 Central Bedfordshire(3) n/a n/a n/a 172 
			 881 Essex 457 283 282 264 
			 919 Hertfordshire 160 183 181 178 
			 821 Luton 147 70 65 53 
			 926 Norfolk 92 77 67 63 
			 874 Peterborough 21 41 39 31 
			 882 Southend-on-Sea 58 75 80 79 
			 935 Suffolk 82 72 69 72 
			 883 Thurrock 86 98 106 102 
			   
			 H  London 
			 A  Inner London 
			 202 Camden 176 162 154 170 
			 201 City of London 8 12 12 11 
			 204 Hackney 239 215 198 187 
			 205 Hammersmith and Fulham 152 138 126 108 
			 309 Haringey 156 145 139 130 
			 206 Islington 187 177 173 173 
			 207 Kensington and Chelsea 156 160 162 172 
			 208 Lambeth 358 282 263 237 
			 209 Lewisham 320 262 243 248 
			 316 Newham 122 83 81 86 
			 210 Southwark 222 198 196 209 
			 211 Tower Hamlets 124 102 92 80 
			 212 Wandsworth 118 127 129 128 
			 213 Westminster 183 193 180 190 
			   
			 B  Outer London 
			 301 Barking and Dagenham 147 140 149 143 
			 302 Barnet 226 205 203 200 
			 303 Bexley 190 196 183 184 
			 304 Brent 268 244 258 255 
			 305 Bromley 189 185 177 187 
			 306 Croydon 310 364 386 395 
			 307 Ealing 205 168 149 139 
			 308 Enfield 227 165 171 158 
			 203 Greenwich 175 141 138 136 
			 310 Harrow 133 133 144 150 
			 311 Havering 90 89 92 95 
			 312 Hillingdon 164 112 120 112 
			 313 Hounslow 189 219 204 210 
			 314 Kingston upon Thames 79 93 88 86 
			 315 Merton 192 220 207 200 
			 317 Redbridge 138 149 154 171 
			 318 Richmond upon Thames 96 120 118 115 
			 319 Sutton 157 185 172 175 
			 320 Waltham Forest 106 112 122 114 
			 J  South East 
			 867 Bracknell Forest 157 153 147 161 
			 846 Brighton and Hove 60 41 42 42 
			 825 Buckinghamshire 171 190 197 183 
			 845 East Sussex 147 140 136 128 
			 850 Hampshire 371 350 333 342 
			 921 Isle of Wight 11 6 4 5 
			 886 Kent 208 176 164 157 
			 887 Medway 125 121 126 111 
			 826 Milton Keynes 64 51 53 48 
			 931 Oxfordshire 58 41 50 41 
			 851 Portsmouth 61 64 58 57 
			 870 Reading 342 309 314 296 
			 871 Slough 123 100 86 69 
			 852 Southampton 42 52 43 50 
			 936 Surrey 223 285 296 313 
			 869 West Berkshire 77 80 76 77 
			 938 West Sussex 180 176 165 153 
			 868 Windsor and Maidenhead 129 105 97 111 
			 872 Wokingham 109 105 103 98 
			   
			 K  South West 
			 800 Bath and North East Somerset 30 29 34 22 
			 837 Bournemouth 129 80 79 91 
			 801 Bristol, City of 161 126 135 124 
			 908 Cornwall 59 63 65 59 
			 878 Devon 209 154 132 113 
			 835 Dorset 213 193 188 175 
			 916 Gloucestershire 29 39 33 26 
			 420 Isles of Scilly 0 0 0 0 
			 802 North Somerset 37 29 33 37 
			 879 Plymouth 27 26 21 28 
			 836 Poole 78 52 45 42 
			 933 Somerset 78 81 78 73 
			 803 South Gloucestershire 96 109 117 113 
			 866 Swindon 40 38 37 38 
			 880 Torbay 77 61 64 58 
			 865 Wiltshire 171 186 180 172 
			 n/a = not applicable (1) Includes pupils with valid postcodes only. (2) Includes maintained nursery, primary and secondary schools, CTCs, academies and maintained special schools. (3) Post April 2009 local government reorganisation. Figures for the new local authorities created in April 2009 are not included for years prior to 2009. The focus of this PQ is on the provision for Special Educational Needs students in place at the time the figures were collected and it is not relevant to include historical figures for the new LAs in this context.

Special Educational Needs

John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many children with emotional, behavioural and social difficulties there are in  (a) Leeds, West constituency,  (b) West Yorkshire and  (c) England.

Diana Johnson: The requested information is shown in the table.
	
		
			  Maintained primary( 1) , State-funded secondary( 1, 2)  and special schools( 3) : Number of pupils( 4)  with behaviour, emotional and social difficulties( 5) -January 2009 in Leeds West parliamentary constituency, West Yorkshire and England 
			   Maintained primary  State-funded secondary  All special 
			 Leeds West 90 60 40 
			 West Yorkshire 2,460 3,840 430 
			 England 59,930 82,270 13,240 
			 (1) Includes middle schools as deemed. (2) Includes City Technology colleges and academies. (3) Includes maintained and non-maintained special schools. Excludes general hospital schools. (4) Headcount of solely registered pupils only. (5) Pupils at School Action Plus and those pupils with a statement of Special Educational Needs provided information on their primary need and, if appropriate, their secondary need. Information on primary need only is given here.  Note: Pupil numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10.  Source: School Census

Specialised Diplomas: Rural Areas

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many and what proportion of rural secondary schools  (a) are offering new diploma courses,  (b) will offer new diploma courses starting in September 2010 and  (c) have joined consortia to offer new diploma courses in each of the next four years; and if he will make a statement.

Iain Wright: We do not collect information about 14-19 delivery at an institutional level. However, from the Department's School and College Database, over 95 per cent. of rural schools are involved in consortia approved to deliver Diplomas from 2010.
	Consortia have applied to the fourth Gateway to offer Diplomas from September 2011 and we will publish the results of this process in April 2010.

Teachers: Arts

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many 
	(1)  places were available in each region for people to train as dance teachers in each of the last 10 years;
	(2)  training places were available in each region for  (a) music,  (b) drama and  (c) art teachers in each of the last 10 years.

Vernon Coaker: The Department sets national targets for initial teacher training (ITT) recruitment. Table 1 shows the number of ITT places in each of the last 10 years. This information is not available at regional level.
	Table 2 shows the number of places allocated to ITT providers (based on the region of the provider) for courses specialising in the requested subjects is shown in the table. This information is only available from 2003/04 onwards. The sum of the allocation targets may not be the same as sector level departmental targets.
	
		
			  Table 1: Initial teacher training, number of places( 1) + , 2000/01 to 2009/10, England 
			   2000/01  2001/02  2002/03  2003/04  2004/05  2005/06  2006/07  2007/08  2008/09  2009/10 
			  Primary 13,100 12,500 14,000 15,200 16,300 15,800 15,300 14,800 17,460 18,050 
			
			  Secondary 16,615 17,390 17,790 19,475 19,500 18,500 17,500 16,500 19,385 18,120 
			  Secondary by subject:   
			 Art 850 850 850 900 880 800 700 600 670 595 
			 Citizenship - - 200 250 250 240 230 220 265 265 
			 English (inc. Drama) 2,160 2,160 2,350 2,350 2,350 2,200 2,040 1,920 2,670 2,535 
			 Geography 1,090 1,175 1,100 985 935 925 850 770 770 715 
			 History 900 900 950 950 910 810 700 600 685 620 
			 Mathematics 1,850 1,940 1,940 2,315 2,350 2,350 2,350 2,350 2,735 2,685 
			 Modern foreign languages 2,050 2,050 2,050 2,050 2,050 1,900 1,790 1,670 1,670 1,525 
			 Music 630 705 700 700 725 690 640 600 690 635 
			 Other(2) 330 450 300 300 300 290 240 185 325 295 
			 Physical education 1,200 1,200 1,200 1,500 1,500 1,450 1,310 1,180 1,570 1,380 
			 Religious education 665 650 700 700 730 730 695 665 740 695 
			 Science 2,690 2,810 2,850 3,225 3,225 3,225 3,225 3,225 3,615 3,405 
			 Technology 2,000 2,150 2,500 2,850 2,895 2,890 2,730 2,515 2,980 2,770 
			  of which( 3)   
			 Business Studies n/a n/a n/a n/a 760 730 680 600 590 505 
			 Design and Technology n/a n/a n/a n/a 1,085 1,060 1,010 930 1,195 1,150 
			 Information and Communications Technology n/a n/a n/a n/a 1,050 1,100 1,040 985 1,195 1,115 
			 Vocational subjects(4) n/a n/a n/a n/a 400 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 Margin of flexibility/Secondary reserve(5) 250 350 100 400 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 Primary and Secondary 29,715 29,890 31,790 34,675 35,800 34,300 32,800 31,300 36,845 36,170 
			 (1 )Number of places prior to 2008/09 include school centred ITT but excludes employment based routes ITT (EBITT). Targets for 2008/09 onwards include EBITT, but exclude Teach First. (2 )'Other' includes classics, dance, economics, media, performing arts, social sciences and social studies. For 2008/09 onwards also includes diploma subjects. (3 )Number of places for individual technology subjects is not available before 2004/05. (4 )Places for vocational subjects in 2006/07 onwards are included with the allocation for related academic subject: Science includes places for applied science; design and technology includes both manufacturing and engineering; ICT includes applied ICT; business studies includes applied business; geography includes leisure and tourism; art includes applied art and other includes health and social care. In 2003/04 the margin of flexibility included places for a vocational subjects pilot. In 2004/05 places for vocational subjects were shown separately. (5 )The margin of flexibility/secondary reserve constituted places that the TDA could allocate to any secondary subject, to support providers whose baselines would otherwise be below economic levels; to ensure the appropriate denominational balance and to help providers with a high proportion of places in shortage subjects and who therefore had particular uncertainty of income.  Source:  DCSF 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2: Initial teacher training, number of allocated places, 2003/04 to 2009/10, by Government office region 
			   2003/04  2004/05  2005/06  2006/07  2007/08  2008/09  2009/10( 1) 
			  Primary and Secondary ITT courses
			 England 34,740 35,710 35,470 33,720 32,720 32,290 33,030 
			 
			 North East 1,620 1,690 1,740 1,570 1,510 1,530 1,540 
			 North West 6,200 6,270 6,370 6,140 5,960 5,880 5,930 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 3,890 3,980 3,840 3,530 3,460 3,350 3,260 
			 East Midlands 2,180 2,290 2,160 2,080 2,020 2,030 2,020 
			 West Midlands 3,110 3,260 3,160 3,100 2,970 2,940 3,310 
			 East of England 2,740 2,850 2,800 2,570 2,470 2,390 2,430 
			 London 6,080 6,260 6,350 6,090 5,880 5,740 5,840 
			 South East 4,570 4,650 4,640 4,530 4,460 4,470 4,720 
			 South West 3,770 3,870 3,840 3,770 3,670 3,630 3,650 
			 Non-Regional 590 600 570 340 340 340 350 
			 
			  Secondary ITT courses
			 England 19,480 19,420 19,570 18,390 17,870 17,430 17,300 
			 
			 North East 900 900 950 830 790 810 790 
			 North West 3,490 3,390 3,470 3,380 3,280 3,210 3,170 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 2,130 2,100 2,040 1,840 1,840 1,740 1,640 
			 East Midlands 1,150 1,140 1,050 1,020 1,010 1,020 950 
			 West Midlands 1,910 1,900 1,880 1,820 1,750 1,740 1,810 
			 East of England 1,480 1,510 1,490 1,340 1,270 1,190 1,140 
			 London 3,220 3,250 3,360 3,220 3,100 2,930 2,940 
			 South East 2,470 2,460 2,480 2,430 2,420 2,400 2,550 
			 South West 2,220 2,270 2,350 2,250 2,140 2,140 2,070 
			 Non-Regional 500 510 500 260 260 250 250 
			 
			  Secondary ITT courses specialising in Dance
			 England 50 90 60 60 60 60 60 
			 
			 North East 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 North West 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 East Midlands 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 West Midlands 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 East of England 0 10 10 10 10 10 10 
			 London 40 40 10 20 20 20 20 
			 South East 0 20 20 20 10 10 10 
			 South West 10 10 10 10 10 20 20 
			 Non-Regional
			 
			  Secondary ITT courses specialising in Drama
			 England 320 300 140 230 190 190 190 
			 
			 North East 10 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 North West 50 70 0 60 50 60 60 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 40 40 40 0 0 0 0 
			 East Midlands 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 West Midlands 40 30 20 40 30 30 30 
			 East of England 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 London 130 120 40 90 80 60 60 
			 South East 20 20 20 20 10 10 10 
			 South West 30 30 20 30 30 30 30 
			 Non-Regional 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 
			  Secondary ITT courses specialising in Music
			 England 720 710 790 720 710 660 610 
			 
			 North East 40 40 30 20 20 20 20 
			 North West 90 100 120 130 130 130 120 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 60 60 60 40 40 40 40 
			 East Midlands 10 30 30 30 30 30 20 
			 West Midlands 80 80 70 60 60 60 60 
			 East of England 30 30 40 30 30 30 30 
			 London 150 130 190 180 180 160 150 
			 South East 100 100 110 110 100 90 100 
			 South West 80 80 90 90 80 70 60 
			 Non-Regional 80 60 60 30 30 30 30 
			 
			  Secondary ITT courses specialising in Art (also includes Applied Art)
			 England 990 940 820 700 600 580 540 
			 
			 North East 30 20 30 30 30 30 30 
			 North West 210 210 170 150 130 130 100 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 40 30 30 0 0 0 0 
			 East Midlands 10 10 10 0 0 0 0 
			 West Midlands 90 80 70 60 50 50 50 
			 East of England 90 80 70 60 50 50 50 
			 London 240 240 210 190 160 150 150 
			 South East 140 130 120 110 90 90 70 
			 South West 150 140 120 110 90 90 80 
			 Non-Regional 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			  Notes: 1. Number of allocated places include school centred ITT but excludes employment based ITT (EBITT). EBITT places are not allocated at subject level.  2. Places allocated in 2009/10 are provisional and subject to change.  3. Numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10.  Source:  TDA

Teachers: Training

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what provision is made in the training of teachers to enable them to recognise and support children with Tourette syndrome.

Vernon Coaker: Government have invested significant resources in relation to improving training for the school work force in relation to special educational needs. For teachers this includes training resources at both undergraduate and postgraduate level which include elements addressing Behavioural, Emotional and Social Difficulties, which encompasses Tourette Syndrome. The resources have been made available to all Initial Teacher Trainers and support is being provided to enable them to work together to share and improve their practice in this important area.
	Furthermore, the national strategies have been funded by DCSF to develop and roll out an Inclusion Development Programme which will deliver specially designed training resources for the school work force that address areas of SEN that we know some find difficult-the third phase of this covers Behavioural, Emotional and Social Difficulties (BESD) and is due to be launched in March 2010.

Young Offenders

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many electronic tag restrictions on children aged  (a) 10 or 11,  (b) 12 to 14 and  (c) 15 to 17 years old have been (i) issued and (ii) breached in each year since 1997.

Maria Eagle: I have been asked to reply.
	The Electronic Monitoring service began in 1999. The information as follows provides data on the number of electronic monitoring orders received by the electronic monitoring service providers for juveniles since 2005.
	We cannot provide details on how many electronic orders were received for juveniles in the age groups requested. Nor can we provide details on the number of breaches. During 1999-2004, the contactors recorded data in a different way and they are not recorded centrally. To obtain these data from the previous contractors could only be done at a disproportionate cost.
	
		
			   Age 
			  Current c ontracts( 1)  10-11  12-14  15-17 
			  2005/06
			 Orders made 43 2,808 13,723 
			 Orders reported for breach 12 846 3,825 
			 
			  2006/07
			 Orders made 56 3,538 17,832 
			 Orders reported for breach 23 1,278 5,844 
			 
			  2007/08
			 Orders made 64 3,628 20,078 
			 Orders reported for breach 34 1,609 8,802 
			 
			  2008/09
			 Orders made 38 3,469 19,736 
			 Orders reported for breach 20 1,593 8,815 
			 (1) Financial year. Under the current contracts, juveniles are defined as 10-17 year olds

Young Offenders

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many children aged between 10 and 17 years old were first-time entrants to the criminal justice system through receiving their first caution or conviction in each of the last 10 years.

Vernon Coaker: holding answer 14 December 2009
	Live Police National Computer (PNC) data were first collected in 1995. Between 1997 and 1999 work was ongoing to improve the quality of the data collection on first time entrants (FTE) to the criminal justice system aged 10 to 17 in order to bring them to a standard sufficient to support the publication of national statistics.
	The first year these data became available for publication was for 2000-01. Data for 2000-09 are published here:
	http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/STR/d000895/index.shtml

Young People: Alcoholic Drinks

John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what steps he plans to take to assist schools to encourage responsible alcohol consumption in young people.

Dawn Primarolo: Revised drug and alcohol guidance for schools was issued for consultation on 13 November. This new guidance includes a far greater emphasis on alcohol and sets clear expectations around both alcohol education and how schools deal with alcohol-related incidents. It also provides information on further sources of support.
	We have also announced our intention to make drug and alcohol education statutory as part of PSHE education and subject to parliamentary approval. This will ensure all schools provide information and education about alcohol, supported by a clear curriculum.

BUSINESS, INNOVATION AND SKILLS

Apprentices: Bexley

David Evennett: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many small and medium-sized businesses in the London Borough of Bexley are employing apprentices.

Kevin Brennan: Data on the number and size of the employers supporting apprentices are not collected via the individualised leaner record (ILR) and hence the information requested is not currently available.
	From the 2009/10 academic year, this information will be available on the ILR when a unique employer identifier will have to be provided by all employers of apprentices.
	We can provide an estimate of the size of employers that offer and have recruited apprentices from the National Employer Skills Survey (NESS). These data are based on repeated surveys of around 79,000 employers across all business sectors in England. Table 1 shows information from the published 2007 National Employer Skills survey(1) on the number of organisations that had any staff undertaking an apprenticeship in the 12 months prior to interview, by size of employer.
	(1)http://readingroom.lsc.gov.uk/lsc/National/nat-nessurvey2007 mainreport-may08.pdf accessed on 11 December 2009.
	
		
			  Table 1: Percentage of employers that have recruited an apprentice in the last 12 months (NESS 2007) 
			Number of employees of employer 
			   All employers  2-4  5-24  25-99  100-199  200-499  500+ 
			 Percentage of employers that have recruited an apprentice over the previous 12 months (NESS 2007) 6 4 8 11 15 19 26

Apprentices: Finance

Richard Benyon: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what arrangements his Department has put in place for funding for apprenticeships for those aged 19 or more during the transition period between the winding down of the Learning and Skills Council and the creation of the Skills Funding Agency.

Kevin Brennan: The transition of responsibilities from the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) to the Skills Funding Agency (SFA) will not have any impact on the funding of adult apprenticeships and will not affect the work of training providers in delivering apprenticeships in England. The National Apprenticeship Service, which was established earlier this year, will provide continuity in the promotion and delivery of apprenticeships to employers and to young people and adults.

Apprentices: Staffordshire

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many adult apprenticeships have been completed at the Tamworth campus of South Staffordshire College in each of the last five years; and how many he expects will be completed in  (a) 2009,  (b) 2010 and  (c) 2011.

Kevin Brennan: Reliable information on apprenticeship achievements is not available for individual campuses.
	Information on learner numbers at Tamworth and Lichfield College is available via the College Accounts at:
	http://www.lsc.gov.uk/providers/pfm/fniancial-support/College+Accounts.htm
	This provides information for Tamworth and Lichfield College in 2007/08 and earlier, before the creation of South Staffordshire College.
	Information on success rates for South Staffordshire College can be found in the latest Ofsted inspection report at
	http://www.ofsted.gov.uk
	Information on projected apprenticeship achievements is available at national level only.
	Apprenticeship Framework achievements are published in a quarterly statistical first release (SFR). The latest SFR was published on 22 October 2009 at:
	http://www.thedataservice.org.uk/statistics/sfroct09
	This includes apprenticeship framework achievements by parliamentary constituency but does not contain information at provider level. The next SFR, with final data on apprenticeships for 2008/09, is due to be published on 17 December 2009.

Business: Essex

Bob Spink: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent estimate he has made of the proportion of businesses in  (a) Essex and  (b) Castle Point constituency which are involved in manufacturing.

Angela Smith: I have been asked to reply.
	The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	 Letter from Jil Matheson, dated December 2009:
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question concerning what recent estimate has made of the proportion of businesses in (a) Essex and (b) Castle Point constituency which are involved in manufacturing. (307598)
	The table below contains counts of enterprises taken from the Inter-departmental Business Register in March 2009.
	
		
			  2009 
			   Manufacturing  Total  Percentage 
			 Essex County 3,730 53,270 7 
			 Castle Point 210 2,765 8

Business: Yorkshire and the Humber

John Battle: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills 
	(1)  how many companies are registered under UK Standard Industry Classification codes for public administration, defence and compulsory social security in the  (a) West Yorkshire,  (b) Leeds City and  (c) Leeds, West constituency area;
	(2)  how many companies are registered under UK Standard Industry Classification codes for real estate, renting and business activities in the  (a) West Yorkshire,  (b) Leeds City and  (c) Leeds, West constituency area;
	(3)  how many companies are registered under UK Standard Industry Classification codes for financial intermediation in the  (a) West Yorkshire,  (b) Leeds City and  (c) Leeds, West constituency area.
	(4)  how many companies are registered under UK Standard Industry Classification codes for fishing in the  (a) West Yorkshire,  (b) Leeds City and  (c) Leeds, West constituency area;
	(5)  how many companies are registered under UK Standard Industry Classification codes for agriculture, hunting and forestry in the  (a) West Yorkshire,  (b) Leeds City and  (c) Leeds, West constituency area;
	(6)  how many companies are registered under UK Standard Industry Classification codes for private households employing staff and undifferentiated production activities of households for own use in the  (a) West Yorkshire,  (b) Leeds City and  (c) Leeds, West constituency area;
	(7)  how many companies are registered under UK Standard Industry Classification codes for other community, social and personal service activities in the  (a) West Yorkshire,  (b) Leeds City and  (c) Leeds, West constituency area;
	(8)  how many companies are registered under UK Standard Industry Classification codes for health and social work in the  (a) West Yorkshire,  (b) Leeds City and  (c) Leeds, West constituency area;
	(9)  how many companies are registered under UK Standard Industry Classification codes for extra-territorial organisations and bodies in the  (a) West Yorkshire,  (b) Leeds City and  (c) Leeds, West constituency area;
	(10)  how many companies are registered under UK Standard Industry Classification codes for education in the  (a) West Yorkshire,  (b) Leeds City and  (c) Leeds, West constituency area;
	(11)  how many companies are registered under UK Standard Industry Classification codes for the manufacturing of machinery and equipment not elsewhere classified in the  (a) West Yorkshire,  (b) Leeds, City and  (c) Leeds West constituency areas;
	(12)  how many companies are registered under UK standard industry classification codes for the manufacturing of basic metals and fabricated metal products in the  (a) West Yorkshire,  (b) Leeds City and  (c) Leeds, West constituency area;
	(13)  how many companies are registered under UK standard industry classification codes for the manufacturing of other non-metallic mineral products in the  (a) West Yorkshire,  (b) Leeds City and  (c) Leeds, West constituency area;
	(14)  how many companies are registered under UK standard industry classification codes for the manufacturing of rubber and plastic products in the  (a) West Yorkshire,  (b) Leeds City and  (c) Leeds, West constituency area;
	(15)  how many companies are registered under UK standard industry classification codes for the manufacturing of chemicals, chemical products and man-made fibres in the  (a) West Yorkshire,  (b) Leeds City and  (c) Leeds, West constituency area;
	(16)  how many companies are registered under UK standard industry classification codes for the manufacturing of coke, refined petroleum products and nuclear fuel in the  (a) West Yorkshire,  (b) Leeds City and  (c) Leeds, West constituency area;
	(17)  how many companies are registered under UK standard industry classification codes for the publishing of newspapers in the  (a) West Yorkshire,  (b) Leeds City and  (c) Leeds, West constituency area;
	(18)  how many companies are registered under UK standard industry classification codes for the publishing of books in the  (a) West Yorkshire,  (b) Leeds City and  (c) Leeds, West constituency area;
	(19)  how many companies are registered under UK standard industry classification codes for publishing, printing and reproduction of recorded media in the  (a) West Yorkshire,  (b) Leeds City and  (c) Leeds, West constituency area;
	(20)  how many companies are registered under UK standard industry classification codes for pulp, paper and paper products in the  (a) West Yorkshire,  (b) Leeds City and  (c) Leeds, West constituency area;
	(21)  how many companies are registered under UK standard industry classification codes for wood and wood products in the  (a) West Yorkshire,  (b) Leeds City and  (c) Leeds, West constituency area;
	(22)  how many companies are registered under UK Standard Industry Classification codes for leather and leather products in  (a) West Yorkshire,  (b) Leeds City and  (c) Leeds, West constituency area;
	(23)  how many companies are registered under UK Standard Industry Classification codes for manufacturing of textiles and textile products in  (a) West Yorkshire,  (b) Leeds City and  (c) Leeds, West constituency area;
	(24)  how many companies are registered under UK Standard Industry Classification codes for manufacturing of food products and beverages in  (a) West Yorkshire,  (b) Leeds City and  (c) Leeds, West constituency area;
	(25)  how many companies are registered under UK Standard Industry Classification codes for manufacturing in  (a) West Yorkshire,  (b) Leeds City and  (c) Leeds, West constituency area;
	(26)  how many companies are registered under UK Standard Industry Classification codes for hotels in the  (a) West Yorkshire,  (b) Leeds City and  (c) Leeds, West constituency area;
	(27)  how many companies are registered under UK Standard Industry Classification codes for hotels and restaurants in the  (a) West Yorkshire,  (b) Leeds City and  (c) Leeds, West constituency area;
	(28)  how many companies are registered under UK Standard Industry Classification codes for repair of personal and household goods in the  (a) West Yorkshire,  (b) Leeds City and  (c) Leeds, West constituency area;
	(29)  how many companies are registered under UK Standard Industry Classification codes for retail trade in the  (a) West Yorkshire,  (b) Leeds City and  (c) Leeds, West constituency area;
	(30)  how many companies are registered under UK Standard Industry Classification codes for wholesale trade and commission trade in the  (a) West Yorkshire,  (b) Leeds City and  (c) Leeds, West constituency area;
	(31)  how many companies are registered under UK Standard Industry Classification codes for retail sale of automotive fuel in the  (a) West Yorkshire,  (b) Leeds City and  (c) Leeds, West constituency area;
	(32)  how many companies are registered under UK Standard Industry Classification codes for sale, maintenance and repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles in the  (a) West Yorkshire,  (b) Leeds City and  (c) Leeds, West constituency area;
	(33)  how many companies are registered under UK Standard Industry Classification codes for construction in the  (a) West Yorkshire,  (b) Leeds City and  (c) Leeds, West constituency area;
	(34)  how many companies are registered under UK Standard Industry Classification codes for electricity, gas and water supply in the  (a) West Yorkshire,  (b) Leeds City and  (c) Leeds, West constituency area;
	(35)  how many companies are registered under UK Standard Industry Classification codes for the manufacturing not elsewhere classified in the  (a) West Yorkshire,  (b) Leeds City and  (c) Leeds, West constituency area;
	(36)  how many companies are registered under UK Standard Industry Classification codes for the manufacturing of transport equipment in the  (a) West Yorkshire,  (b) Leeds City and  (c) Leeds, West constituency area;
	(37)  how many companies are registered under UK Standard Industry Classification codes for the manufacturing of electrical and optical equipment in the  (a) West Yorkshire,  (b) Leeds City and  (c) Leeds, West constituency area;
	(38)  how many companies are registered under UK Standard Industry Classification codes for supporting and auxiliary transport activities: activities of travel agencies in the  (a) West Yorkshire,  (b) Leeds City and  (c) Leeds, West constituency area;
	(39)  how many companies are registered under UK Standard Industry Classification codes for freight transport by road in the  (a) West Yorkshire,  (b) Leeds City and  (c) Leeds, West constituency area;
	(40)  how many companies are registered under UK Standard Industry Classification codes for transport, storage and communications in the  (a) West Yorkshire,  (b) Leeds City and  (c) Leeds, West constituency area;
	(41)  how many companies are registered under UK Standard Industry Classification codes for bars in the  (a) West Yorkshire,  (b) Leeds City and  (c) Leeds, West constituency area;
	(42)  how many companies are registered under UK Standard Industry Classification codes for restaurants in the  (a) West Yorkshire,  (b) Leeds City and  (c) Leeds, West constituency area.

Angela Smith: I have been asked to reply.
	The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
	 Letter from Jil Matheson, dated December 2009:
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Questions.
	The estimates in the following table are taken from the Inter-Departmental Business Register and show the count of companies by requested classification as at March 2008, the latest date for which estimates are available. All classifications are based on the UK Standard Industry Classification 2003.
	The table contains counts of companies held on the Inter-Departmental Business Register. The counts exclude units that are classified as sole proprietors, partnerships, and businesses classified to the non-profit or public sector.
	
		
			  UK Standard Industrial Classification 2003  West Yorkshire Metropolitan County  Leeds  Leeds, West 
			 75 Public Administration and Defence; Compulsory Social Security 0 0 0 
			 70-74 Real Estate, Renting and Business Activities 12,565 5,250 315 
			 65-67 Financial Intermediation 645 275 5 
			 05 Fishing 5 5 0 
			 01-02 Agriculture, Hunting and Forestry 275 90 5 
			 95-97 Private Households Employing Staff and Undifferentiated Production Activities of Households for Own Use 0 0 0 
			 90-93 Other Community, Social and Personal Service Activity 1,560 630 30 
			 85 Health and Social Work 720 245 10 
			 99 Extra-territorial Organisations and Bodies 0 0 0 
			 80 Education 405 140 10 
			 29 Manufacture of Machinery and Equipment Not Elsewhere Classified 460 115 20 
			 27-28 Manufacture of Basic Metals and Fabricated Metal Products 875 220 35 
			 26 Manufacture of Other Non-metallic Mineral Products 140 30 5 
			 25 Manufacture of Rubber and Plastic Products 245 50 5 
			 24 Manufacture of Chemicals, Chemical Products and Man-made Fibres 120 40 5 
			 23 Manufacture of Coke, Refined Petroleum Products and Nuclear Fuel 10 0 0 
			 2212 Publishing of newspapers 10 0 0 
			 2211 Publishing of books 35 15 0 
			 22 Publishing, Printing and Reproduction of Recorded Media 595 255 45 
			 21 Manufacture of Pulp, Paper and Paper Products Publishing and Printing 65 15 0 
			 20 Manufacture of Wood and Wood Products 215 55 10 
			 19 Manufacture of Leather and Leather Products 25 10 0 
			 17 -18 Manufacture of Textiles and Textile Products 370 85 10 
			 15 Manufacture of Food Products, Beverages and Tobacco 145 40 0 
			 15-37 Manufacturing 4,225 1,215 175 
			 5510 Hotels 75 25 0 
			 55 Hotels and Restaurants 1,285 525 40 
			 5271-5274 Repair of Personal and Household Goods 95 30 0 
			 52 Retail 2,865 1,040 70 
			 51 Wholesale Trade and Commission Trade, Except of Motor Vehicles and Motorcycles 2,820 915 85 
			 5050 Retail sate of automotive fuel 60 15 5 
			 5010-5040 Sale, Maintenance and Repair of Motor Vehicles and Motorcycles 1,050 310 45 
			 45 Construction 4,410 1,530 170 
			 40-41 Electricity, Gas and Water Supply 10 5 0 
			 36-37 Manufacture Not Elsewhere Classified 490 145 20 
			 34-35 Manufacture of Transport Equipment 115 25 0 
			 30-33 Manufacture of Electrical and Optical Equipment 440 150 15 
			 63 Supporting and Auxiliary Transport Activities; Activities of Travel Agencies 335 100 10 
			 6024 Freight transport by road 600 155 20 
			 60-64 Transport, Storage and Communications 1,345 420 50 
			 5540 Bars 420 155 15 
			 5530 Restaurants 665 285 15

Competition Commission: Public Relations

Nick Hurd: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what payments the Competition Commission has made to Euro RSCG Apex in each of the last three years; for what purposes; and if he will place in the Library a copy of the contract under which such payments have been made.

Kevin Brennan: The Competition Commission has made payments totalling £16,690 to Euro RSCG Apex over the last three years-£11,867.50 in 2007/08, £3,701.25 in 2008/09 and £1,121.25 in 2009/10. The payments related to strategic communications advice provided to the CC on specific investigations and for the organisation in general. The advice has been provided under the terms of a three year contract which can be terminated by the CC at any point with a month's notice. The contract is subject to the normal considerations of confidentiality regarding a commercial agreement such as this and it would not be appropriate to place a copy in the Library.

Construction: Economic Situation

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what his most recent assessment is of the effects on the construction industry of the recession; and if he will make a statement.

Ian Lucas: According to data published on 3 December by the Office for National Statistics, total construction output in the third quarter of 2009 rose by 2 per cent. compared with the previous quarter. An increase in repair and maintenance of 10 per cent. over the previous quarter offset a fall in new work of 4 per cent.
	Information on construction new orders is more volatile, but data published on 10 December showed infrastructure and public non-housing work holding up, with increases of 46 per cent. and 13 per cent. respectively in the 12 months to October 2009 when compared with the previous 12 month period. Overall, new orders were 5 per cent. down in the three months to October compared with the previous three months, and fell by 19 per cent. in the 12 months to October 2009 compared with the previous 12 month period.

Construction: Government Assistance

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps his Department intends to take to support the construction industry in the next two years.

Ian Lucas: On 1 December the Department and the Office of Government Commerce, HM Treasury, took a major step in appointing Paul Morrell as the Chief Construction Adviser. Key tasks for Paul include driving the implementation and further development of best value construction procurement; and leading the low carbon construction Innovation and Growth Team which will assess the key barriers to growth in the UK's low carbon construction sector to ensure the UK industry is well placed to serve developing needs and markets.

Dietetics

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many Masters of Dietetics degrees were awarded in each of the last five years.

David Lammy: Information on Masters degrees awarded in dietetics is not available and the numbers of Masters qualifiers in Nutrition are given as an alternative in the table.
	Nutrition is classified as a principal subject in the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) Student Record and includes courses in nutrition and dietetics.
	Figures for the 2008/09 academic year will be available from HESA in January.

Employment Schemes

John Hayes: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what proportion of participants in the Learning and Skills Council's Golden Hello scheme his Department estimates have not completed their training in the last 12 months.

Kevin Brennan: The main objective of the Further Education Golden Hello scheme is to provide an incentive to improve the retention of teachers in the sector. The scheme's eligibility criteria do not require teachers to have completed training at the point of application for or payment of the Golden Hello. Consequently the Department does not require the LSC to collect information on completion of training for the purposes of the scheme.
	Applicants, who must be in their second year of teaching, must show that they either hold or are working towards a Diploma to Teach in the Lifelong Learning Sector (DTLLS) qualification. The Further Education Teachers' Qualifications (England) Regulations 2007 regulations require those who don't hold DTLLS as they commence teaching to complete their training within five years, during which time they can be employed in a full teaching role.

Employment Schemes

John Hayes: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what criteria the Learning and Skills Council applies for the selection of participants in its Golden Hello scheme.

Kevin Brennan: The full eligibility criteria and self assessment guidance for the Further Education Golden Hello Scheme are published each year via the Teachernet website:
	www.teachernet.gov.uk.
	In summary applicants must meet all of the following key criteria:
	(a) be directly employed by, and in their second ever year of teaching in, an eligible FE institution.
	(b) at the time the application is received by the LSC, have a teaching contract for at least one term.
	(c) be teaching one or more of the designated shortage subjects.
	(d) be qualified with or, at the time of application, be undertaking and working towards a Diploma to Teach in the Lifelong Learning Sector (DTLLS) qualification.

Higher Education: Leeds

John Battle: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many people applied for places at universities in Leeds for the academic year 2009-10; and how many studied at such universities in 2008-09.

David Lammy: The latest figures are shown in the table. Each applicant can submit up to five applications, except those applying to Medicine, Dentistry and Veterinary Science courses who can submit up to four applications. The 2009-10 application numbers cover applicants who applied via the UCAS main scheme by 30 June.
	Comprehensive data on students who studied at higher education institutions in 2008-09 will become available in January. Figures are therefore provided on accepted applicants to full-time undergraduate courses via UCAS in 2008-09.
	
		
			  Accepted applicants and applications to full-time undergraduate courses 
			   Applicants accepted for entry in 2008/09  Applications for entry in 2009/10 
			 Leeds Metropolitan University 7,447 36,860 
			 The University of Leeds 7,582 51,694 
			 Leeds Trinity and All Saints(1) 899 4,540 
			 (1) An accredited college of the University of Leeds  Source: UCAS

Higher Education: Qualifications

David Evennett: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the targeted allocations provided by the Higher Education Funding Council for England for  (a) foundation degrees,  (b) old and historic buildings and  (c) accelerated and intensive provision of postgraduate taught subjects in price band D, with specific reference to the contribution of each to (i) teaching and learning, (ii) widening participation in higher education and (iii) helping re-train people in the recession.

David Lammy: The Department has made no assessment of the effectiveness of these three targeted allocations.
	In July HEFCE launched a consultation on the future of these three targeted allocations. That closed on 14 October 2009. At their meeting on 27 November 2009, the HEFCE board considered proposals to reduce or phase out these allocations. Final decisions will be taken early in the new year, in the light of confirmed allocations for 2010-11.

Hospitality Industry: Training

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent progress has been made on the provision of skills training for those working in the hospitality industry; and if he will make a statement.

Kevin Brennan: holding answer 14 December 2009
	The Government are working in a number of ways to support the efforts of the hospitality industry to improve the skills of its workforce.
	The National Skills Academy (NSA) for Hospitality forms a key part of the sector's skills strategy, and is backed by leading sector employers. The NSA provides the sector with quality assured training programmes to help to fill skills shortages.
	A key priority for the sector is to upskill our domestic workforce to fill vacancies in the sector, and so reduce the sector's reliance on migration. Crucial to this is the roll out of the Government's Young Person's Guarantee. Hospitality, leisure and tourism is one of the first sectors to benefit from the 'Routes into Work' programme, which funds pre-employment training for 18 to 24-year-olds who have been long-term unemployed, with a guarantee of a job in the sector. We are also working with the sector on skills for the ethnic catering industry, where a review of qualifications is taking place and a long term strategy is being developed to reduce reliance on migration and upskill UK workers.
	In addition, the industry's Sector Skills Council, People 1st, earlier this year received a new licence from Government, following a recommendation for relicensing by the UK Commission for Employment and Skills.

Learning and Skills Council for England

Mark Oaten: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to the answer of 3 December 2009,  Official Report, column 987W, on Learning and Skills Council for England: correspondence, when the review of processes will be completed.

Kevin Brennan: holding answer 14 December 2009
	I can confirm that the review of processes will be completed shortly, with a view to implementing any necessary changes early in the new year.

Office of Fair Trading: Hotels

Anne Main: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how much the Office of Fair Trading has spent on hotel accommodation for its officials in each of the last five years.

Kevin Brennan: The Office of Fair Trading's expenditure on hotel accommodation for the last three years was as follows:
	
		
			  £ 
			 2008/09 100,932 
			 2007/08 127,005 
			 2006/07 88,900 
		
	
	Expenditure on hotel accommodation was not separately recorded in prior years, and it is not therefore possible to produce this information without disproportionate cost.
	Travel by civil servants is undertaken in accordance with the Civil Service Management Code.

Office of Fair Trading: Training

Graham Stuart: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many  (a) away days and  (b) conferences that took place outside the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) buildings attended by civil servants in the OFT there have been since 2005; and what the cost was of each.

Kevin Brennan: OFT's expenditure on conferences since 2005 is shown in the following table.
	
		
			   £ 
			 January 2005 - March 2005 22,445 
			 2005-06 (April-March) 108,562 
			 2006-07 214,221 
			 2007-08 80,495 
			 2008-09 118,274 
		
	
	Information on the number of conferences attended, and on away days generally, is not available without disproportionate cost.

Older Workers: Vocational Training

David Simpson: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many and what proportion of people over 55 years old have been assisted in learning new job skills in each of the last three years.

Kevin Brennan: Data are available from the Labour Force Survey on self-reported participation in training related to their current job or a job they might be able to do in the future for England.
	These estimates will not include everyone obtaining new job skills as some people surveyed may be studying for relevant qualifications that they do not personally consider to be job related.
	Table 1 shows the proportion of working age people over 55 years old who say they have participated in training related to a current or future job in Quarter 2 (April to June) for the last three years. Annual estimates are not available as the question is only asked on the Labour Force Survey in Quarter 2 and covers only the preceding three months.
	
		
			  Table 1: Training for working age people over 55 year-old in England 
			   Number reporting being in training for a current or future job  Percentage reporting being in training for a current or future job 
			 Q2 2007 472,000 12.0 
			 Q2 2008 500,000 12.8 
			 Q2 2009 501,000 13.0 
			  Base:  56-59/64 year olds, England  Source:  Labour Force Survey 
		
	
	We also hold information on the number of learners that were participating in LSC-funded Further Education. Table 2 shows the number of learners aged 55 or over participating in some form of further education. Note that not all of these learners will be learning skills relevant to a new job.
	
		
			  Table 2: Participation in Further Education of learners aged 55 or over 
			   Participation for learners aged 55 or over 
			 2005-06 706,800 
			 2006-07 536,000 
			 2007-08 506,800 
			  Notes: 1. Figures have been rounded to the nearest hundred 2. 2. Age is based on academic age as at 31 August of the start of the academic year.  Source:  FE ILR

Policy Objectives

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many regulatory impact assessments have cited peace of mind as a policy objective since 1997.

Ian Lucas: Analysis has been carried out on impact assessments contained within the impact assessment library, published on the BRE website, which date between 1 January 2008 and 18 December 2009, totalling 450 impact assessments.
	No impact assessments were found to cite peace of mind as a policy objective.

Putting the Frontline First: Smarter Government

Dai Davies: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment he has made of the effect on the national skills base of the proposed reduction in the number of publicly-funded bodies in the skills sector by 30 over the next three years, as referred to on page 54 of Putting the Frontline First: Smarter Government, Cm 7753.

Kevin Brennan: This proposal was first outlined in Skills for Growth-the National Skills Strategy in November. It takes forward a recommendation made by the UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES) and addresses employer concerns that the skills system continues to be over complicated, with too many separate bodies playing a role.
	Simplifying the landscape through reducing the number of intermediary bodies will contribute to a more effective national skills system, and allow more resources to be focused on front-line delivery.
	Part of the reduction includes consolidation of the UK-wide sector skills council (SSC) network, creating a better fit with the likely sector boundaries of the future. Government will look to UKCES to work with SSCs to bring forward proposals for this consolidation. As has been the case with the relicensing of SSCs, we will continue to work closely with the devolved Administrations and other departmental sponsors of the commission, to ensure that this process takes full account of the impacts on, and priorities of, the whole of the UK. This also ensures that employers are involved in the development and ownership of the bodies which emerge from this process.

Regulations: Audit

Graham Brady: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent discussions he has had with the Financial Reporting Council on the regulation of audit firms.

Ian Lucas: This Department regularly has discussions with the Financial Reporting Council and its operating bodies about a range of issues, including the regulation of audit firms.
	As part of this, I met Dame Barbara Mills QC, the Chair of the Professional Oversight Board, which oversees the regulation of audit firms, on 14 October, to discuss the Board's annual report.

Students: Disabled

Mark Harper: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to the answer to Lord Addington of 5 November 2009,  Official Report,  House of Lords, column 372, on disabled people: student loans, what arrangements the Government has with universities and colleges to ensure that there is financial support for disabled students in the event of delays in the assessment or payments of support; how many individual students have been supported using these arrangements in the academic year 2009-10; what the average period of support for disabled students has been; and what estimate he has made of the monetary value of the financial support given under such arrangements.

David Lammy: This is an operational matter for which Postcomm has direct responsibility. I have therefore asked Postcomm's Chief Executive, Tim Brown, to reply direct to the hon. Member.
	A copy of the response will be placed in the Libraries of the House.

Students: Loans

David Willetts: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many enquiries have been made to the Student Loans Company  (a) by telephone,  (b) by email,  (c) via its website and  (d) by other methods in each of the last six years.

David Lammy: The Student Loans Company has provided the information set out in the following table:
	
		
			  Number 
			  Financial year  Telephone calls received by contact centre  Queries received via website  Correspondence received 
			 2004-05 2,743,665 n/a 252,566 
			 2005-06 2,373,175 n/a 192,457 
			 2006-07 2,504,190 52,107 187,300 
			 2007-08 2,831,382 158,278 148,446 
			 2008-09 3,298,052 70,780 157,076 
			 2009-2010 to date 3,233,622 70,105 103,699 
			  Notes: 1. Figures in the table are those in relation to Student Finance England, Student Finance Northern Ireland and income contingent repayments for borrowers across the UK. It is not possible to break down the figures further. 2. 'Queries through website' refers to the secure messaging function on the Student Finance Direct/Directgov website.

Tax

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many regulatory impact assessments have included mitigation of the general reluctance to pay tax as an issue since 1997.

Ian Lucas: Analysis has been carried out on impact assessments contained within the impact assessment library, published on the BRE website, which date between 1 January 2008 and 18 December 2009, totalling 450 impact assessments.
	From these it was found that five included mitigation of the general reluctance to pay tax as an issue:
	Changes to rules on loan relationships;
	Identifying users of disclosed tax avoidance schemes;
	Impact assessment of ratification of the Council of Europe convention on action against trafficking in human beings;
	Impact assessment of legal powers to support the creation of the UK Border Agency;
	Final impact assessment of common travel area (CTA) reform.

Trade Agreements: Peru

Gregory Barker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what discussions his Department has had with the European Commission on its decision to continue multiparty trade agreement negotiations with Peru; and if he will make a statement.

Ian Lucas: The EU and Peru, Colombia and Ecuador began negotiations on a multiparty trade agreement in January 2009, after negotiations between the EU and the Community of Andean Nations had stalled. Ecuador has since dropped out of negotiations, but remains an interested observer.
	Officials from the joint BIS/DFID Trade Policy Unit have been in continuous liaison with the European Commission throughout the negotiations, via routine representation to the Article 133 Committee (now the Trade Policy Committee, since entry into force of the Lisbon treaty) and associated meetings in Brussels.

UK Trade and Investment: Hotels

Anne Main: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how much UK Trade and Investment has spent on hotel accommodation for its staff in each of the last five years.

Ian Lucas: UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) does not directly employ staff but draws on resource from its two parent departments the Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS) and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO). UKTI has offices in 98 different countries, the nine English regions, London and Glasgow.
	UKTI holds financial information on travel and accommodation costs at the aggregate level centrally while detailed information is held locally. To provide the information requested would require obtaining detailed information from each location and therefore can be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Vocational Training: East of England

Bob Spink: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what funding under the  (a) Train to Gain and  (b) Skills for Life programme was provided to each college in the East of England in 2008-09; and how much such funding has been allocated under each such programme for 2009-10.

Kevin Brennan: Funding is allocated by the Learning and Skills Council to further education (FE) colleges and training organisations on an academic year basis. In the east of England, FE colleges were allocated a total of nearly £36 million in 2008/09 academic year for Train to Gain, and have maximum contract values worth £34 million in 2009/10 academic year.
	We are unable to provide a breakdown of the funding allocated for Skills for Life provision. Skills for Life is a collective term, used to describe learning delivered to improve literacy, language and numeracy skills, which can be delivered through different programme lines eg Adult Learner Responsive and Employer Responsive. The amount of funding made available for Skills for Life at a national level is based on planned levels of activity for an academic year but funding to FE colleges and training organisations is not allocated at this level. Nationally, planned investment in adult (19+) Skills for Life courses delivered through Train to Gain and Adult Learner Responsive routes is nearly £600 million for 2008-09 financial year and around £630 million for 2009-10 financial year.
	The proposed funding for 2010-11 for FE and Skills has recently been published in the Skills Investment Strategy, and further information and statistics regarding funding for individual FE colleges and geographical areas are available on the website of the Learning and Skills Council (www.lsc.gov.uk).
	
		
			  Train to Gain allocations for FE colleges in the east of England 
			  £ 
			   Final maximum contract value 
			  Further education college  Final 2008/09  Provisional 2009/10 
			 Barnfield College 490,000 662,904 
			 Bedford College 2,200,002 1,985,420 
			 Braintree College 1,017,573 745,050 
			 Cambridge Regional College 5,700,000 6,600,009 
			 Chelmsford College 145,000 92,317 
			 Colchester Institute 1,520,656 664,188 
			 College of West Anglia 1,870,001 2,442,585 
			 Dunstable College (now Central Bedfordshire College) 84,305 306,017 
			 Epping Forest College 156,574 100,248 
			 Great Yarmouth College of Further Education 218,774 249,718 
			 Harlow College 2,478,323 1,901,163 
			 Hertford Regional College 753,676 1,089,564 
			 Huntingdonshire Regional College 2,289,213 2,492,278 
			 Lowestoft College 861,253 499,749 
			 North Hertfordshire College 6,560,001 5,057,221 
			 Norwich City College of Further and Higher Education 1,651,588 1,392,463 
			 Oaklands College 1,099,657 1,557,933 
			 Otley College of Agriculture and Horticulture 340,000 317,663 
			 Peterborough Regional College 1,149,999 902,959 
			 South East Essex College of Arts and Technology, Southend 1,799,999 1,467,919 
			 Suffolk New College 350,082 344,832 
			 West Herts College 61,619 214,744 
			 West Suffolk College 3,100,006 2,865,479 
			 Writtle College 38,401 51,398

Vocational Training: Expenditure

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of professional education and training for  (a) lawyers,  (b) accountants,  (c) plumbers and  (d) electricians in the last 12 months.

David Lammy: The Department continues to ensure that funds are deployed to support adults into sustainable employment and further learning. For the 2010-11 financial year we plan to invest £3.5 billion in adult training through the Skills Funding Agency, an increase of 3 per cent. compared with 2009-10. Investment routed through the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) is £7.8 billion in 2009-10. Figures for 2010-11 will be published in January 2010.
	Funding is not allocated at an individual course level to Further Education (FE) colleges, Higher Education Institutions and other training institutions. The Learning and Skills Council (LSC) and HEFCE are able to provide estimates of funds directed towards specific qualifications based on enrolment information. The estimated funds for 2007/08(1) are provided in the following table.
	(1) The data provided refer to 2007/08 academic year as this is the most recent academic year for which there is a complete set of data. The academic year 2008/09 has only just finished and data are not yet finalised.
	
		
			  Estimated funding for 2007/08 through LSC and HEFCE 
			  £ million 
			  Public funding for qualifications in:( 1)  LSC Levels 1-4( 2)  HEFCE professional post-graduate( 3) 
			  (a) Law 7.3 0.5 
			  (b) Accountancy 31.1 3.4 
			  (c) Plumbing 33.1 - 
			  (d) Electrician and related 11.5 - 
			 (1) It is expected that the primary source of funding for professional qualifications at post-graduate level will be the learner or their employer and for LSC-funded qualifications outside of national entitlements there is an expected learner or employer contribution. (2) Data provided by the LSC; figures are theoretical funding derived from the number of learners enrolled on courses with law, accountancy, plumbing or electrician or related terms in the course title. This includes qualifications ranging from Level 1 (foundation learning) to Level 4 (degree equivalent) delivered through FE, Train to Gain and Apprenticeships). Professional qualifications at post-graduate level in law and accountancy would be funded, where public money is involved, by HEFCE. (3) Data provided by HEFCE; notional grant funding which is the standard resource for 2007/08 minus the assumed fee income. These data include undergraduate courses that are explicitly returned as professional course aims to HESA data; this would not include general undergraduate courses (such as first degrees).

Voting Rights: Public Companies

Richard Ottaway: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills whether he plans to review the operation of company law in respect of the sale and purchase of shares for the purposes of restricting voting rights in respect of public companies.

Ian Lucas: I expect shareholders to take their responsibilities as company owners seriously. I welcome the Financial Reporting Council's agreement to take responsibility for a stewardship code for institutional investors, building on the work of the Institutional Shareholders' Committee. The Government believe that it is important for long term sustainable growth that there is effective engagement between companies and institutional shareholders, and want to see London as a centre of excellence in this area. My noble Friend the Secretary of State will be meeting leading companies and institutional shareholders on 11 January 2010 to explore with them how engagement in the UK market might be made more effective.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Animal Experiments: Wales

Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many regulated procedures under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 were conducted in Wales in 2008.

Meg Hillier: The number of scientific procedures on living animals started under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 in Wales in 2008 was 49,452.

Animal Experiments: Wales

Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many places in Wales were designated as  (a) a supplying establishment,  (b) a breeding establishment and  (c) a scientific procedure establishment under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 at the end of 2008.

Meg Hillier: As at 31 December 2008, in Wales, seven places were designated as user establishments under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986, one was designated as a supplying establishment and two were designated as breeding establishments.

Animal Experiments: Wales

Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what the primary purpose was of each  (a) procedure and  (b) field of research carried out on animals in Wales in 2008 under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 involving (i) fish, (ii) pigs and (iii) genetically modified animals; and what the reasons were for the increase in the number of procedures carried out on (A) fish, (B) pigs and (C) genetically modified animals in Wales in that year in relation to the previous year;
	(2)  what proportion of the regulated procedures under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 which were conducted in Wales in 2008 were performed in  (a) public health laboratories,  (b) universities and medical schools,  (c) national health service hospitals,  (d) Government departments,  (e) other public bodies,  (f) non-profit making organisations and  (g) commercial organisations;
	(3)  how many  (a) genetically modified animals and  (b) animals with a harmful genetic defect were used in regulated procedures under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 which were conducted in Wales in 2008.

Meg Hillier: In line with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics (implementing the Statistics and Registration Act 2007), and the National Statistician's guidance Confidentiality of Official Statistics, the information requested is not available. Providing the information requested would breach statistical confidentiality relating to individual establishments.

Animal Experiments: Wales

Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many procedures carried out on animals in Wales in 2008 under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 involved  (a) New World primates and  (b) Old World primates; and what the primary purposes of those procedures were.

Meg Hillier: There were no scientific procedures on living animals started under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 in Wales in 2008 using primates.

Antisocial Behaviour Orders: West Yorkshire

John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many antisocial behaviour orders have been issued to residents of  (a) Leeds, West constituency and  (b) West Yorkshire since 2002.

Alan Campbell: The latest available published data on the number of antisocial behaviour orders (ASBOs) issued covers the period 1 April 1999 to 31 December 2007 and are not available below criminal justice system (CJS) area level.
	The number of ASBOs issued at all courts in the West Yorkshire CJS area between 2002 and 2007 is 1,102.
	The majority of these ASBOs will have been issued to persons resident in West Yorkshire, however it is possible for courts to issue an ASBO to a person whether or not they reside in the area served by the court. Centrally collected information on ASBOs issued does not include details of the location of ASBO recipients' residences. This information could only be ascertained by examination of individual court files, which could only be achieved at disproportionate cost.

Borders: Personal Records

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what his estimate is of the number of passenger movements  (a) into and  (b) from the UK in each of the next five years; and what percentage of them will be subject to an (i) entry and (ii) exit check.

Alan Johnson: holding answer 14 December 2009
	 The UK Border Agency is not responsible for providing estimates of the number of passenger movements expected into or out of the UK, over the next five years.
	We expect the e-Borders system to screen 95 per cent. of all passenger movements into and out of the UK by the end of December 2010, which will cover all major commercial traffic. The remaining 5 per cent. represents private aviation and the small craft category and we expect to have 100 per cent. coverage by the end of March 2014.

Christmas

Edward Vaizey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much his Department has budgeted for Christmas trees in 2009.

Phil Woolas: holding answer 19 December 2009
	The Department does not have a central budget for Christmas trees. At 2 Marsham street, the Christmas trees have been provided by the building's facilities management supplier at no additional cost to the Department.

Crimes of Violence: Schools

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many pupils in each region were  (a) convicted,  (b) permanently excluded and  (c) temporarily excluded for (i) assaulting and (ii) sexually assaulting teachers or other school staff in each of the last three years.

Vernon Coaker: I have been asked to reply.
	The Court Proceedings Database held by the Ministry of Justice contains information on defendants proceeded against, found guilty and sentenced for criminal offences in England and Wales on a persons basis. These data include information on the age of the defendant, their gender, the police force area and court where proceedings took place as well as the specific offence and statute for the offence. Other than where specified in a statute statistical information held does not identify the employment status of a victim of an offence.
	Data on reasons for exclusion include information on physical assault, verbal abuse or threatening behaviour against an adult, and on sexual misconduct, but not specifically against teachers or school staff.
	In 2005/06, data on fixed period exclusions and on reasons for permanent exclusion were collected from secondary schools only.
	The available information on reasons for exclusion by local authority and Government office region is published as follows:
	 2007/08
	http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000860/index.shtml
	table 21 for permanent exclusions and table 22 for fixed period or temporary exclusions.
	 2006/07
	http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000793/index.shtml
	table 22 for permanent exclusions and table 23 for fixed period exclusions.
	 2005/06
	http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000733/index.shtml
	table 15 for permanent exclusions and table 16 for fixed period exclusions, from maintained secondary schools.

Departmental Buildings

John Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much his Department spent on works and refurbishment to offices allocated to Ministers in his Department's buildings in the last 12 months.

Phil Woolas: Nothing has been spent other than on routine minor maintenance.

Departmental Freedom of Information

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many requests under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 his Department received in 2008; and how many of these received a substantive response within 20 days.

Phil Woolas: The information is contained in annual statistics on the operation of the Freedom of Information Act in central Government, published by the Ministry of Justice (MOJ). The report for 2008 is available on the MOJ website at the following link:
	http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/docs/foi-statistics-report-2008.pdf

Departmental ICT

Nick Hurd: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department with reference to the answer to the right hon. Member for Horsham (Mr. Maude) of 5 March 2009,  Official Report, column 1774W, on departmental ICT, what the job title and job specification is of each of the embedded communicators; and what the responsibilities are of  (a) embedded communicators and  (b) officials working in (i) his Department's press office and (ii) a communications department in one of his Department's agencies.

Phil Woolas: The Home Office Crime Reduction and Community Safety Group (CRCSG) is now the Crime and Policing Group (CPG). The job titles and specifications of their communications staff are listed in Table 1. The communicators in the Office of Security and Counter Terrorism (OSCT) are listed in Table 2.
	The UK Border Agency became an agency on 1 April 2009 meaning the communication team are no longer embedded in relation to the Home Office.
	Press officers are not considered to be embedded communicators although their responsibilities include:
	organising ministerial interviews, visits, announcements and publicity around speeches and events;
	providing timely proactive and reactive media handling advice to Ministers and senior officials;
	skilfully and effectively briefing journalists accurately and with authority;
	working closely with Ministers' private offices, officials and communications colleagues to plan and implement media strategies across a broad range of media outlets including specialist, lifestyle, online and other new media; and
	developing an understanding of issues across the Department.
	The role of officials in the Press Office is to:
	provide administration support to the senior management team;
	lead on recruitment and training of staff;
	manage press office systems ensuring press release statements and operational notes reach the target audience;
	manage TV interviews; and
	book travel and accommodation on behalf of press officers.
	The responsibilities of communicators in the Home Office's agency, UK Border Agency are:
	promoting compliance with immigration and customs requirements, and deterring illegality, by highlighting penalties and enforcement activity;
	facilitating legitimate travel and trade by providing information to the travelling public, applicants and businesses on customs and immigration requirements;
	engaging with customers, stakeholders, the public and staff in order to improve our services and policies;
	facilitating good management of the agency through providing information to, and engagement with, the agency's 25,000 staff in 135 countries; and
	facilitating visits to agency facilities and services by parliamentarians, diplomatic visitors and other stakeholders.
	The roles of officials working in the communication department include stakeholder support staff, administrators, technical staff, managers and non-specialists.
	
		
			  Table 1: Communication staff in the Crime and Policing Group 
			  Job title  Job specification 
			 Stakeholder communications Leads on management, delivery and evaluation of CPG communications and stakeholder engagement projects in order to deliver business objectives 
			 Crime communications adviser Leads on communication strategies across the crime agenda as covered by the Crime Directorate 
			 Drugs and alcohol communicators adviser Leads on communication strategies across the drugs, alcohol and partnership agenda as covered by the Drugs Alcohol and Partnerships Directorate 
			 Policing communication adviser Leads on stakeholder communications and the delivery of communications plans across the policing and organised crime agenda. 
			 Corporate communication adviser Leads on e-comms and branding across the groups internal communications; supports delivery of CPGs corporate business plan and internal engagement activities 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2: Communication staff in the Office for Security and Counter-Terrorism 
			  Job title  Job specification 
			 Senior communications adviser Assist in the planning and co-ordination of communications work across OSCT 
			 Communications manager Supporting the public consultation on communications data and Interception Modernisation Programme 
			 Stakeholder engagement coordinator Organising stakeholder engagement events for the programme 
			 Communications officer Lead implementation of a stakeholder engagement plan to support legislation to deliver Interception Modernisation Programme 
			 Internal communications Manage involvement at key exhibitions and conferences highlighting the role and work of Olympic Security Directorate within the Olympic family and ensuring an appropriate understanding of the programme and plans among key delivery partners and industry 
			 Internal communications adviser Managing the delivery of internal communications within OSCT, utilising the full range of channels

Departmental Meetings

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which  (a) individuals other than ministerial colleagues and officials of his Department and  (b) organisations he met in an official capacity in the week commencing 9 November 2009.

Phil Woolas: In their response to a Report by the Public Administration Select Committee Lobbying: Access and influence in Whitehall, the Government agreed to publish online, on a quarterly basis, information about ministerial meetings with outside interest groups. Information for the period 1 October to 31 December 2009 will be published by Departments as soon as the information is ready.

Departmental Official Cars

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the cost to his Department of providing official cars for the use of  (a) Ministers and  (b) officials in the last 12 months.

Phil Woolas: I refer the hon. Member to the written ministerial statement about the cost of ministerial cars made by the Under-Secretary of State for Transport, my hon. Friend the Member for Gillingham (Paul Clark), on 16 July 2009,  Official Report, columns 79-80WS.
	For the cost of cars to officials, I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the Under-Secretary of State for Transport, my hon. Friend the Member for Gillingham (Paul Clark) on 2 December 2009,  Official Report, column 762W.

Departmental Public Expenditure

Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the cost to his Department was of provision of office facilities to  (a) special advisers and  (b) press officers in the 2008-09 financial year.

Phil Woolas: Although the costs of providing accommodation to press offices and special advisers is not separately attributed in our accounts, for two Marsham street the estimated outturn figure for financial year 2008-09 was in the order of £450,000.

Departmental Publicity

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much his Department has spent on  (a) Ministerial photoshoots and  (b) production of videos in which Ministers appear in the last three years for which figures are available.

Alan Johnson: Information relating to costs to the Department on  (a) ministerial photoshoots and  (b) production of videos in which Ministers appear in the last three years could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Departmental Security

Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many security passes his Department has issued to contractors providing consultancy services in the last 12 months.

Phil Woolas: It is not possible to provide detailed figures for security passes issued by the Home Office to contractors providing consultancy services over the past 12 months for the following reasons:
	The security pass database is regularly refreshed and details of expired passes issued are not retained.
	Application forms and pass records for contractors passes do not differentiate between the type of contractor and it is not therefore possible to distinguish from records which of those contractors were providing consultancy services and those that were delivering non-consultancy services (e.g. catering).

Departmental Taxis

Ian Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what contracts his Department has with private hire taxi companies; and what expenditure his Department has incurred against each such contract in each of the last three years.

Phil Woolas: The Home Department held a contract with Black Cabs/Radio Taxi/A2B Radio Cars/Matrix which expired in November 2008. The Department currently has an agreement with the Government Car and Despatch Agency's Green Car service for the provision of cars and drivers. Available expenditure data are as follows:
	
		
			  £ 
			   Taxi company 
			  Financial year  Black Cabs/Radio Taxi/A2B Radio Cars/Matrix  GCDA's Green Cars 
			 2007-08 257,000 (1)- 
			 2008-09 259,000 115,000 
			 2009 (April to September) (2)- 191,000 
			 (1) Only available at disproportionate cost. (2) Contract expired.

Departmental Telephone Services

Mark Lazarowicz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many telephone lines with the prefix  (a) 0870,  (b) 0845 and  (c) 0800 his Department (i) operates and (ii) sponsors; how many calls were received to each number in the last 12 months; and whether alternative numbers charged at the BT local rate are available in each case.

Phil Woolas: A number of Home Office business areas operate directly, fund or contribute to the running of telephone lines using 0870, 0845 and 0800 numbers via third sector partners and external groups.
	Details of the operation of these telephone lines are not kept centrally. It is therefore not possible to provide information requested about the number of calls received in the last 12 months.
	A breakdown of telephone lines is as follows:
	 Home Office headquarters
	Home Office headquarters does not operate any telephone lines directly.
	 Identity and Passport Service
	There are currently five Identity and Passport Service (IPS) telephone lines which all use 0300 numbers.
	 UK Border Agency
	The UK Border Agency has a total of 12 telephone lines, six of which operate on 0870, 0845 or 0800 and the remaining six operate on local or 0300 numbers.
	 Criminal Records Bureau
	The Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) has six telephone lines which use 0870 numbers.
	The Home Office has undergone an exercise to rationalise its telephone line numbers. Many of its current telephone lines use the 03 prefix where the cost of the call, including those made from a mobile phone, is the same as a standard landline with an 01 or 02 code but not linked to a specific geographic area.
	Until January 2009, all calls to 0845 numbers were charged at the local rate by all providers. BT announced that calls from BT lines to these numbers are now free. Ofcom has also ruled that from one August 2009 the cost of 0870 must be the same as an 0300 call.

Departmental Training

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the  (a) date,  (b) location and  (c) cost was of each of the last four away days held by his Department's Departmental Board.

Meg Hillier: The date, location and cost of the last four Home Office Board away days are listed in the following table.
	
		
			   Location  Total cost( 1)  (£)  Number of attendees  Cost per head (£) 
			 20th November 2009 St. Stephen's Club, Queen Anne's Gate, London 1,747.94 16 109.25 
			 11 September 2009 Institute for Government 920 17 54.12 
			 15 May 2009 Broadway House, Tothill Street, London 1,987.72 14 141.98 
			 27 March 2009 Bramshill Police Training Centre, Surrey(2) (3)3,409.31 13 262.25 
			 (1) Costs include hire of room, facilities and refreshments throughout the day. (2) Bramshill Police Training Centre is owned and operated by National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA) which is funded by the Home Office. Therefore, this figure represents the internal cross-charging for the use of our own facilities. (3) This away day included an overnight stay for all attendees.

Deportation

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the cost to the public purse has been of legal proceedings relating to the deportation of foreign nationals in each year since 1997.

Phil Woolas: The information requested is not centrally collated and could be obtained only by examination of individual case files which would incur a disproportionate cost.
	The type of legal costs incurred by the UK Border Agency in pursuing the deportation of foreign national offenders are those associated with judicial reviews, private law claims and the cost of defending deportation decisions before the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal and the High Court.

Deportation

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 30 November 2009,  Official Report, column 474W, on deportation, from what budget the cost of legal proceedings relating to the deportation of foreign nationals on grounds of national security are met; and how much such proceedings have cost in each year since 1997.

Phil Woolas: The cost of the legal proceedings relating to the deportation of foreign nationals on grounds of national security are met from either the Special Cases Directorate of the UK Border Agency or from the Office for Security and Counter Terrorism based in the Home Office (or from another directorate of UK Border Agency which may have an interest).
	With regard to the cost of proceedings in each year since 1997, the information requested is not centrally collated and could be obtained only by examination of individual case files which would incur a disproportionate cost.
	The type of legal costs incurred by the UK Border Agency in pursuing the deportation of foreign national offenders are those associated with judicial reviews, private law claims and the cost of defending deportation decisions before the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal and the High Court.

Entry Clearances: Iran

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many visas were issued to Iranian nationals by posts in  (a) Dubai and  (b) Tehran in each of the last 10 years.

Phil Woolas: The number of visas issued to Iranian nationals in  (a) Dubai and  (b) Tehran in each year since 2004 is shown in the following table. UKBA does not hold data prior to 2004.
	
		
			  Report year  Nationality  Post Name  Issued 
			 2004 Iran Dubai (BE) 1,285 
			 2004 Iran Tehran (BE) 27,702 
			 2005 Iran Dubai (BE) 1,334 
			 2005 Iran Tehran (BE) 28,302 
			 2006 Iran Dubai (BE) 1,465 
			 2006 Iran Tehran (BE) 35,405 
			 2007 Iran Dubai (BE) 1,324 
			 2007 Iran Tehran (BE) 31,496 
			 2008 Iran Dubai (BE) 1,248 
			 2008 Iran Tehran (BE) 27,597 
			 2009 Iran Dubai (BE) 524 
			 2009 Iran Tehran (BE) 15,710 
			  Source:  CRS 7 December 2009. These data are based on management information. It is provisional and subject to change.

Entry Clearances: Pakistan

Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many applicants resident in Pakistan who were granted entry clearance to the UK following an appeal have been waiting for over two months for a visa to be issued.
	(2)  what the longest period has been for which a visa applicant in Pakistan has waited for a visa to be issued following a decision on appeal in the last three months.

Phil Woolas: The information requested is not available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
	UKBA staff aim to process allowed appeals within eight weeks of receiving notification of the appeal outcome. There have, however, been delays in processing allowed appeals in Pakistan in recent months. UKBA sent additional staff to Pakistan in September. They have now contacted almost all successful applicants to process their visas.

Entry Clearances: Republic of Ireland

Andrew MacKinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions  (a) Ministers and  (b) officials in his Department have had with their counterparts in the Irish Republic on the implications for the UK of the varying visa requirements of the UK and Irish jurisdictions in the last three years; and if he will make a statement.

Phil Woolas: We have been working closely with the Government of the Republic of Ireland to strengthen the common travel area (CTA) for a significant period of time and remain committed to building on that relationship in the future.
	No discussions have taken place between Ministers on the differing visa regimes of the UK and the Republic of Ireland. However, officials regularly meet through the bilateral Immigration and Counter Terrorism Group. This allows the two governments to explore and mitigate abuse of the immigration and asylum systems within the CTA. These meetings include discussions on the visa requirements.
	We continue to work in partnership with the Republic of Ireland to explore ways of aligning our respective visa regimes and further increase cooperation in the field of visa regimes in the future.

Entry Clearances: Skilled Workers

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many  (a) people have been granted post-study entry into Tier One of the points based system in each quarter for which information is available and  (b) new arrivals have been granted visas under (i) the Highly Skilled Migrants Programme and (ii) Tier One in each quarter since the inception of the former.

Phil Woolas: holding answer 30 November 2009
	In answer to part  (a) of the question, please see Table 1:
	
		
			  Table 1: Main applicants :  Leave to remain and entry clearance tier one post study applications approved by quarter 
			  Year/quarter  Granted applications 
			  2008  
			 Quarter 1 - 
			 Quarter 2 - 
			 Quarter 3 5,995 
			 Quarter 4 14,780 
			   
			  2009  
			 Quarter 1 12,545 
			 Quarter 2 7,990 
			 Quarter 3 8,010 
			  Notes:  1. Figures rounded to the nearest five (- = 0).  2. Tier one post study leave to remain route began 30 June 2008.  3. Tier one post study entry clearance route began 30 June 2008. 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2: Main applicants: Leave to remain and entry clearance HSMP applications approved by quarter 
			  Year/quarter  Granted applications 
			 2008  
			 Quarter 1 6,005 
			 Quarter 2 6,870 
			 Quarter 3 4,845 
			 Quarter 4 2,125 
			   
			  2009  
			 Quarter 1 315 
			 Quarter 2 160 
			 Quarter 3 65 
			 Notes: 1. Figures rounded to the nearest five (- = 0). 2. Highly Skilled Migrant Programme (HSMP). 3. The highly skilled migrant leave to remain route closed 28 February 2008. 4. The highly skilled migrant entry clearance route closed 31 March 2008. 5. Figures include review application grants. 
		
	
	In answer to part  (b) (ii) of the question, please see Table 3:
	
		
			  Table 3: Leave to remain and entry clearance tier  one  applications approved by quarter 
			  Year/quarter  Granted applications 
			  2008  
			 Quarter 1 280 
			 Quarter 2 4,850 
			 Quarter 3 17,850 
			 Quarter 4 28,350 
			   
			  2009  
			 Quarter 1 26,470 
			 Quarter 2 22,105 
			 Quarter 3 16,565 
			  Notes: 1. Figures rounded to the nearest five (- = 0). 2. Figures include all tier one routes (including tier one post study). 3. Tier one leave to remain route began 29 February 2008. 4. Tier one entry clearance route initiated 1 April 2008. 
		
	
	The figures quoted are not provided under National Statistics protocols and have been derived from local management information and are therefore provisional and subject to change. The figures have been rounded to the nearest five.

Foreign Workers

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what recent assessment he has made of the effects of migrants in meeting the skills requirements of the economy;
	(2)  what research his Department has undertaken on the contribution of migrants to reducing skills deficits in the UK.

Phil Woolas: The Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) is commissioned by the Government to recommend shortage occupation lists for the UK and Scotland. Recommended lists were published in September 2008, April 2009 and October 2009. The next update is scheduled for spring 2010. In its reviews the MAC considers the contribution migration makes to filling skilled labour shortages and meeting the skills needs of the economy.

Foreign Workers

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many economic migrants of each profession came to the UK from each country in South America, Central America and Europe in each year since 2006.

Phil Woolas: Information on the profession of migrants entering the United Kingdom is not available.
	However, statistics on passengers entering the United Kingdom by purpose of journey and country of nationality are published annually in the Home Office publications Control of Immigration: Statistics United Kingdom which are available from the library of the House and from the Home Office Research, Development and Statistics website at
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration-asylum-stats.html
	The statistics can be found in supplementary table 1a in the 2008 edition and in table 2.3 in the 2006 and 2007 editions.

Fraud: Internet

David Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent steps his Department has taken to reduce the incidence of internet fraud.

Alan Campbell: The Government are determined to tackle the problem of fraud, and it has signalled its commitment to tackling fraud with the allocation of £29 million in new money over three years to implement the National Fraud Programme. The National Fraud Authority (NFA) published the first National Fraud Strategy in March and will drive forward a comprehensive strategy for tackling fraud, bringing together the Government, criminal justice practitioners, business and the public. The funding also enabled the establishment of a National Fraud Reporting Centre (NFRC) which will provide a reporting mechanism for individuals and small businesses to report fraud where no other law enforcement or regulatory reporting mechanism exists. The National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB), which is linked to the NFRC, will develop intelligence from these reports, and pass it to law enforcement agencies. The intelligence gathered will also help form the basis of better prevention advice and alerts to fraud threats for business and the public.
	In addition to the funding for the National Fraud Programme the Government are providing £3.5 million over three years to create the Police Central e-crime Unit (PCeU).
	This will provide support to the Police Service in developing a structured response to online crime, and its initial focus will be on the area of fraud-related electronic crime, working with the NFRC to develop a response to reports on such matters.

Human Trafficking

Anthony Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how often the Inter-Departmental Ministerial Group has met since the implementation of the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings.

Alan Campbell: holding answer 14 December 2009
	It has met once since the convention came into force on one April 2009.

Immigration

Evan Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many and what proportion of applications for a residence card as the spouse of an EEA national had been decided within six months on the latest date for which figures are available on his Department's website.

Phil Woolas: This information is not available as the UK Border Agency's Case information database records all family members of EEA nationals who apply for residence cards in one category (EEA2).

Immigration: Children

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many children aged  (a) 17 years,  (b) between 12 and 16 years,  (c) between five and 11 years and  (d) under five years who have been detained under immigration rules have (i) absconded and (ii) attempted to abscond from detention in each of the last 12 years.

Alan Johnson: There has been one escape by a minor aged 14 years of age from Oakington Immigration Removal Centre in 2004.

Internet

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 30 November 2009,  Official Repor t, column 489W, on the internet, if he will issue guidance on the application of the  (a) Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003 and  (b) Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 to trials of the CView Deep Packet Inspection technology developed by Detica.

David Hanson: holding answer 14 December 2009
	I have no plans to issue guidance in respect of deep packet inspection generally or specifically in respect of the use of a particular product. It is for the users of such equipment to ensure that the way in which it is used is in accordance with the law as set out in the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003 and the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 or any other relevant legislation.

Internet: Advertising

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps his Department is taking to regulate online advertising.

Si�n Simon: I have been asked to reply.
	All advertising in paid for space in the UK, including online advertising, is strictly controlled through a system of co-regulation and self-regulation, which is administered by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA). This regulatory system is independent of Government and is ultimately responsible for setting the standards for all advertising.
	The bodies responsible for writing and maintaining the advertising codes, the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) and the Broadcast Committee of Advertising Practice (BCAP), are currently finalising a full review of all the advertising codes to ensure they remain up-to-date.
	In addition to this work, the industry has also been considering the extent of new media regulation, particularly in the light of the recommendations set out in the Byron Review-Safer Children in a Digital World. The review recommended industry take steps to 'future proof' the current system for advertising regulation, taking account of new forms of online advertising outside the remit of the existing regulatory system.
	It is anticipated that the new advertising codes and the industry's proposals to extend the scope of regulation to areas of new media marketing, will be published in the first quarter of 2010.

National Policing Improvement Agency: Public Relations

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much the National Policing Improvement Agency has spent on advertising and marketing in each of the last five years.

Alan Johnson: The National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA) was established on 1 April 2007. The expenditure of the NPIA Marketing team for the past two years was:
	
		
			   £ 
			 2007-08 1,399,000 
			 2008-09 1,074,000 
			 2009-10 (forecasted outturn) 1,071,000

Passports

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many passports have been issued in each of the last two years.

Meg Hillier: The following table shows how many passports were issued in each of the last two financial years.
	
		
			  Financial year  Passports issued 
			 2007-08 5,683,416 
			 2008-09 5,225,115

Repatriation

John Pugh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much has been paid under the Facilitated Returns Scheme in each year since its inception.

Phil Woolas: The chief executive of the UK Border Agency will provide this information to the Home Affairs Committee when she writes in January 2010 as the information is not yet available.

Serious Organised Crime Agency: Manpower

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many officers from regional crime squads have been transferred to the Serious and Organised Crime Agency in each of the last three years;
	(2)  how many officers of the Serious Organised Crime Agency were attached to regional crime squads on 1 December 2009.

Alan Campbell: Regional Crime Squads ceased to exist in 1998, when the Police Act 1997 amalgamated them to form the National Crime Squad. As a result of the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005, the National Crime Squad (NCS) and its service authority ceased to exist. 1,875 NCS staff (including 1,070 former police officers) transferred into the Serious Organised Crime Agency on 1 April 2006.

Serious Organised Crime Agency: Manpower

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many warranted officers of the Serious Organised Crime Agency were based  (a) in the UK and  (b) overseas on 1 December 2009.

Alan Campbell: Officers in the Serious Organised Crime Agency are not designated as warranted. They are designated as having the powers of a police officer, an immigration officer or the customs powers of revenue and customs. As of 1 December 2009, 1,570 SOCA officers were designated with these powers; 88 of these officers are based overseas.

Sexual Offences

James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent assessment he has made of the effect on victims of a serious sexual offence of the decision not to introduce national indicator 26, specialist support to victims of a serious sexual offence.

Alan Campbell: National Indicator (NI) 26 was deferred in 2009-10 to allow time for more development work on the indicator's definition and measurement processes.
	During this deferred period, NI26 is being piloted in the three areas in the South West that had included NI 26 in their LAA (Bristol, Cornwall and Plymouth). A fourth area, Thurrock in Essex, had adopted this indicator as a local target and is also included in the pilot scheme.
	The significance of including this indicator in the National Indicator Set (NIS) was to highlight the issue of sexual violence, and the need to provide support services, as an important local issue. We are continuing to work towards achieving this through our commitment in the recently published Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) Strategy to develop a comprehensive National Indicator relevant to all VAWG and to mainstream VAWG into other relevant national indicators where possible, while working to encourage more Local Strategic Partnerships to prioritise the issue.

Shoplifting

Malcolm Moss: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people were reported to police on suspicion of shoplifting offences in  (a) each division in Cambridgeshire and  (b) England in each of the last 10 years.

Alan Campbell: The available data relate to shoplifting offences recorded by the police in England and in each Basic Command Unit (BCU) in Cambridgeshire.
	Shoplifting data at BCU level are only available from 2000-01.
	
		
			  Table 1: Offences of shoplifting recorded by the police-1999-2000 to 2001-02 
			Cambridgeshire Basic Command Unit 
			   England  Central  Northern  Southern 
			 1999-2000 278,243 n/a n/a n/a 
			 2000-01 279,198 903 1,605 1,236 
			 2001-02 291,689 940 1,758 1,326 
			 n/a - Not available. 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2: Offences of shoplifting recorded by the police-2002-03 to 2008- 09( 1) 
			Cambridgeshire Basic Command Unit 
			   England  Central  Northern  Southern 
			 2002-03 294,062 1,053 1,643 1,724 
			 2003-04 286,440 1,059 1,505 1,601 
			 2004-05 265,789 842 1,511 1,277 
			 2005-06 279,908 807 1,582 1,371 
			 2006-07(2) 278,241 960 1,378 1,507 
			 2007-08 274,146 909 1,462 1,569 
			 2008-09 302,499 1,112 1,840 1,766 
			 (1) The National Crime Recording Standard was introduced in 2002-03 and data before and after that date are not directly comparable. (2) Cambridgeshire BCUs revised in 2006-07.

UK Border Agency

Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department from which 50 parliamentary constituencies, listed from highest to lowest, the UK Border Agency received the highest number of enquiries regarding  (a) legacy migration cases,  (b) non-legacy migration cases and  (c) out-of-country visa applications in each of the last four years.

Phil Woolas: The information requested is not available in the format required and could be obtained only by the detailed examination of individual records at disproportionate cost.

UK Border Agency

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the  (a) budget and  (b) outturn of the UK Border Agency was in respect of IT in 2008-09.

Phil Woolas: The information requested is as follows:
	 (a) The resource and capital budgets for IT for UK Border Agency for the FY 2008-09 was £260 million including projects and programmes.
	 (b) The resource and capital outturn for IT for UK Border Agency for the FY 2008-09 was £227 million including projects and programmes.

UK Border Agency

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much the UK Border Agency  (a) budgeted for and  (b) spent on information technology in (i) 2008 and (ii) 2009.

Phil Woolas: I am unable to provide the figures for the calendar years 2008 and 2009 as the accounts operate on a fiscal financial year basis.

Victim Support Schemes: Sexual Offences

James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent assessment he has made of the outcomes of the pilot of national indicator 26, Specialist support to victims of a serious sexual offence.

Alan Campbell: A pilot of National Indicator 26 commenced in April 2009. Once we have made an assessment of the outcomes of the pilot, during 2010-11, this information will inform the refresh of the National Indicator Set for the next local area agreement period.

West Yorkshire Police

John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people were employed in  (a) armed response units and  (b) specialist firearms officers teams in West Yorkshire regional police forces in each year since 1997.

David Hanson: The information is as follows.
	 (a) While both data on the number of officers whose primary function is listed as response and the number authorised to use firearms is collected centrally, data on armed response units specifically are not collected centrally.
	 (b) The number of officers whose primary function is listed as firearms-tactical is restricted from the public domain following consultation with Association of Chief Police Officers. Under the Freedom of Information Act 2005, information can be withheld where disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice the prevention or detection of crime.

Work Permits

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many work visas have been issued to recipients with each level of qualification in each of the last five years.

Phil Woolas: The information is not centrally recorded and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE

Carbon Emissions

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what proportion of  (a) UK and  (b) global carbon dioxide emissions were attributable to (i) aircraft, (ii) ships and (iii) cars in the latest period for which figures are available.

Joan Ruddock: Estimates of UK greenhouse gas emissions for 2007 were published on 3 February 2009.
	The proportion of UK carbon dioxide emissions arising from (i) domestic aviation, (ii) shipping and (iii) cars in each of the last 10 years, are shown in the following table. These percentages are calculated on an 'End User' basis.
	
		
			  Contribution of specified transport categories towards total emissions of carbon dioxide, 1998-2007, by end-user 
			  Percentage 
			  Gas/Sector  1998  1999  2000  2001  2002  2003  2004  2005  2006  2007 
			  (a) Carbon dioxide   
			 (i) Domestic aviation 0.3 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.5 0.5 0.4 
			 (ii) Shipping 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.5 0.5 0.8 0.7 0.9 1.1 1.0 
			 (iii) Cars 16.0 16.6 16.3 16.0 16.9 16.2 16.1 16.1 15.7 15.9 
		
	
	Estimates of global carbon dioxide emissions arising from (i) domestic aviation, and (ii) shipping for the year 2005. No global CO2 data are available for cars.
	
		
			  Contribution of global carbon dioxide emissions for specified transport categories, 2005, by source 
			  Percentage 
			  Gas/Sector  2005 
			  (a) Carbon dioxide  
			 (i) International aviation 1 
			 (ii) International shipping 2 
			 (iii) Cars (1)- 
			 (1 )No data available.

Climate Change: Publicity

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many visitors have visited the Act on CO2 website.

Joan Ruddock: From 17 September 2008 to 3 December 2009 there have been 1,106,253 unique visitors to the ACT ON CO2 website.

Departmental Consultants

Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many external consultants work for his Department.

Joan Ruddock: DECC currently has 135 external consultants.

Departmental Manpower

Crispin Blunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many staff of his Department were in its redeployment pool on 1  (a) January,  (b) April,  (c) July and  (d) October 2009.

Joan Ruddock: The Department of Energy and Climate Change was created on 3 October 2008. There were no staff in the redeployment pool in January, April or July 2009. On 1 October 2009, there were five individuals on DECC's re-deployment register.

Driving

Stephen Ladyman: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what mechanisms are in place to ensure that staff who drive  (a) a vehicle for which his Department is responsible have valid driving licences and  (b) their own vehicles in the course of their official duties have valid driving licences and insurance; what guidance is issued to those staff in respect of road safety while carrying out official duties; what steps are taken to monitor compliance with that guidance; what requirements there are on such staff to report to their line managers accidents in which they are involved while driving in the course of their official duties; and whether such reports are investigated.

Joan Ruddock: DECC's own policies for travel and use of vehicles are currently still under development. In the interim, DECC staff refer to legacy policies from their 'parent' Departments, BIS and DEFRA. DECC does not own a fleet of vehicles for use by staff but staff may continue to be covered by arrangements from 'parent' Departments. A summary of these are outlined as follows.
	 Procedure for BIS staff
	(a) BIS lease vehicles: BIS has access to a small number of vehicles (approx. five) which can be leased by staff from contracted providers. Procedures followed by staff and their managers (e.g. on driving licences, insurance etc.) comply with requirements from the individual contracted provider.
	(b) Own car for business use/car hire: It is the responsibility of the driver to ensure that they have a current licence which covers the car being driven and adequate insurance to provide cover for business use. Before using their own vehicle for business use, staff must obtain prior approval from their line manager. For staff using hire cars for departmental business, line managers must ensure that the driver:
	has no more than six penalty points on their driving licence;
	has not been disqualified from driving in the last three years;
	has had no more than two 'at fault' accidents in the last 12 months;
	Line managers should examine at least annually the driving licences of all staff that drive Department provided hired cars.
	The guidance also reminds staff to ensure that they follow all advice, guidance and legislation relating to road safety-and that they will have to pay any fines incurred as a result of any driving offence (e.g. speeding, parking, failure to pay congestion charge).
	 Procedure for DEFRA staff
	(a) DEFRA 'pool' of vehicles: to use a vehicle from the DEFRA pool, staff must obtain a valid driving permit. This can be obtained by faxing a copy of a current driving licence, which must be counter signed by their line manager, to the regional official vehicle manager.
	(b) Own car for business use/car hire: Staff may only consider the use of a private vehicle if the journey is under 85 miles (unless a director signs off the use of a private vehicle and produces a business case). Staff are responsible for ensuring adequate insurance cover is held and no specific check of driving licences is made. For car hire, drivers must be 21 or over and have held a full licence for at least 12 months. Driving licences must not contain any endorsements for theft of vehicle or taking without consent. Line managers must ensure that drivers are eligible to drive by checking the driving licence before the first hire and thereafter on a six monthly basis. Drivers are also required to show their licence to the hire firm representative when the vehicle is delivered.
	DEFRA also promotes safe driving by publishing Eco driving techniques on the intranet. Eco driving techniques have been shown to reduce collisions and driver stress.
	Staff driving hire vehicles are required to report any accident as soon as they are able to the vehicle supplier. BIS staff are required to also report the accident to their line manager and the travel and subsistence policy unit. DEFRA staff also report the accident to the travel policy unit and the departmental health and safety unit. Road traffic accidents involving the individual's vehicle are not reportable under RIDDOR (Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995).

Electricity

Michael Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what the comparative average costs are of transmitting electricity to London from  (a) Scotland and  (b) Northern Ireland.

David Kidney: In 2008 the average cost per megawatt hour of transmitting electricity to London was £3.33 from Scotland, £5.48 from Northern Ireland.

Electricity

Michael Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assessment has been made of the merits of changes to the transmission charging methodology in order to vary charges according to the load factors of a plant.

David Kidney: National Grid are currently exploring the merits of the inclusion of load factors and other information in calculating transmission charges and if so how such a model could be implemented.

Electricity

Michael Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change whether he has made an assessment of the merits of introducing incentives for pumped electricity storage in Scotland.

David Kidney: The Department has made no assessment of the merits of introducing incentives for pumped storage electricity storage in Scotland.

Energy Efficiency Schemes

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate he made of the number of households likely to receive assistance under his Department's energy efficiency schemes at the commencement of each such scheme.

Joan Ruddock: The Carbon Emissions Reduction Target (CERT is a market mechanism and suppliers are free to meet it through various approved measures. The numbers of households benefiting will therefore depend on both supplier actions, supply chain constraints, consumer demand and a range of other variables. Ofgem track supplier performance against targets, and report CERT delivery on a quarterly basis; their latest report shows that over 1.5 million insulation measures and 170 million high efficiency lights have been delivered in the period April 2008-June 2009.
	Figures for the Community Energy Saving Programme (CESP) only commenced in September 2009. It is estimated that 90,000 households will benefit.
	The total number assisted by the Warm Front scheme since its inception in June 2000 is, 2.1 million households.

Energy Supply

Michael Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what steps the Government are taking to encourage energy suppliers to assist their customers in avoiding arrears.

David Kidney: The Government are keen to see that suppliers take a fair approach to debt management. Ofgem already publishes guidelines that set minimum standards for suppliers on debt and disconnection issues, including avoiding arrears.
	Ofgem and Consumer Focus are currently carrying out a joint review looking at these issues. The review report will be published in the New Year.

Fuel Poverty: Pensioners

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change if he will assess the susceptibility to fuel poverty of pensioners in sheltered housing accommodation.

David Kidney: Fuel poverty is not measured for pensioners living in sheltered accommodation. To assess the susceptibility to fuel poverty of pensioners in sheltered housing would be particularly difficult. Firstly, the English Housing Survey, used as the main source for the fuel poverty calculation, is a survey of domestic households and does not cover most forms of sheltered housing. In addition, the concept of fuel poverty, defined as needing to spend more than 10 per cent. of income on energy to achieve the adequate standard of warmth would be difficult to interpret for those living in such shared accommodation, because rent, or residential fees, typically cover all forms of utilities as part of the sheltered accommodation.

Fuel Poverty: Pensioners

Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change 
	(1)  pursuant to the answer of 2 December 2009,  Official Report, columns 819-20W, on fuel poverty: pensioners, what proportion of pensioner households in each local authority area were in fuel poverty  (a) in 2003 and  (b) at the latest date for which information if available;
	(2)  what proportion of pensioner households in each parliamentary constituency were in fuel poverty  (a) in 2003 and  (b) at the latest date for which information if available.

David Kidney: Modelled levels of fuel poverty at sub regional level are not split by age group or any other form of demographic.

Gilmerton Core Store

Nigel Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change on what date in 2005 ownership of the Gilmerton Core Store was transferred from the Department of Trade and Industry to his Department.

Joan Ruddock: holding answer 14 December 2009
	There has been no change of ownership. The Gilmerton Core Store freehold continues to be under the ownership of the Department for Business Innovation and Skills.

Innovation Investment Fund and Carbon Trust's Venture Capital Scheme

Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the statement of 9 December 2009,  Official Report , columns 359-71, on the Pre-Budget Report, what criteria apply in respect of eligibility for financial support from the  (a) Innovation Investment Fund and  (b) Carbon Trust's Venture Capital Scheme; and for what time period these schemes will remain open to applications.

Joan Ruddock: The UK Innovation Investment Fund will operate on a Fund of Funds structure which means it will not invest directly in companies, but rather invest in a small number of specialist technology funds that have the expertise and track record to invest directly in companies. Investments in individual companies will ultimately be a commercial decision for the underlying fund manager based solely on the quality of the investment opportunity and the fund's investment strategy. First closing is expected to be in January 2010 with final closing following in 12 to 18 months. However, the funds invested in are likely to continue to invest in individual companies over a number of years.
	The Carbon Trust (CT) have informed me that all investment proposals for the CT Venture Capital Scheme must clearly demonstrate how the investment will lead to material CO2 emissions savings while also generating a commercial return. In addition, applicants should address the following:
	Financial Position-The business plan must be accompanied by a financial outline that allows for a detailed appraisal of the organisation's economic viability.
	Management Experience-Teams should demonstrate any relevant sector experience combined with the ambition to turn their business plans into reality.
	Market Assessment-The business plan should detail what the key commercial market is and the critical market drivers.
	Competitive Advantage-The business proposition should demonstrate a clear competitive advantage with respect to a specific need or market demand.
	Other Funding-As Carbon Trust investments will only invest up to 50 per cent. in any one transaction, other private investors must be identified.
	Technical and Innovation Evidence-The business plan will need to demonstrate innovation either through a step-change in technology design or in the application of a technology process.
	Confirmation of Intellectual Property Protection-What intellectual property rights (IPR) already exist prior to the investment, and how any IPR arising during the investment will be protected and exploited.
	All investments need to be UK-based.
	The Carbon Trust fund remains open for the foreseeable future.

Nuclear Power

Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change when his Department issued a notice to tender for the contract to prepare an appraisal of sustainability of the draft nuclear national policy statement; which companies made bids; by what criteria contractors were selected; what the total monetary value of the contracts was; and what assessment he made of the expertise of the contractors selected.

David Kidney: The Department issued an invitation to tender on 21 August 2008 through the Office for Government Commerce.
	Four companies bid for the contract-Drivers Jonas LLP, MWH UK Ltd. (with Enfusion Ltd.), Serco and URS Corporation. The companies who bid also indicated that they could draw upon the expertise of other organisations if required. The contractors were selected against criteria of value for money, and relevant experience and expertise in environmental and sustainability assessment, including strategic environmental assessment.
	The Department has paid approximately £740,000 for work relating to the appraisal of sustainability. This includes:
	Appraisal of sustainability main report;
	11 appraisal of sustainability site reports-one for each nominated site;
	Three additional appraisal of sustainability site reports-one for each site identified by the alternative sites study;
	Ancillary documents such as technical appendices.
	An environmental policy official was involved in the interview process and the selected contractor was judged to have the necessary expertise to prepare the appraisal of sustainability.

Nuclear Power Stations: Oldbury

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what additional infrastructure will be required to connect the proposed new nuclear power station at Oldbury to the National Grid; where it will connect to the National Grid; and if he will make a statement.

David Kidney: holding answer 10 December 2009
	The connection of individual power stations to the electricity transmission system is a matter for the relevant developer and National Grid in its role as system operator for the GB transmission system. Contractual connection agreements between the relevant developer and National Grid will establish, amongst other things, what infrastructure is required and what the potential routes for that infrastructure might be.

Opinion Leader Research

Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how much his Department has paid to Opinion Leader Research since its establishment.

Joan Ruddock: The Department of Energy and Climate Change has not paid anything to Opinion Leader Research since its establishment.

Power Failures

David Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what recent discussions his Department has had with  (a) Ofgem,  (b) EDF Energy and  (c) the Energy Ombudsman on the power cuts at Dartford Creek cable bridge on 20 July 2009.

David Kidney: In October 2009 officials from the Department discussed the progress of their Interruption Incentive Scheme Audit with Ofgem and had further discussions with EDF Energy on the incident, recovery and follow up. No discussions have taken place with the energy ombudsman regarding this incident.

Renewable Energy

John Grogan: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what plans he has to offer to other renewable technology projects the same grandfathering principles it is proposed to apply to offshore wind projects.

David Kidney: Support under the Renewables Obligation is grandfathered at point of accreditation for all technologies except biomass.
	The Government Response to the Statutory Consultation on the Renewables Obligation Order 2009, published in December 2008 set out our decision not to grandfather existing biomass and waste plants following evidence from the biomass industry:
	that grandfathering existing stations at 1 ROC/MWh while banding up new stations would be detrimental to a competitive market for the fuel stock.
	We are currently carrying out work with the Renewables Advisory Board, the Renewable Energy Association and biomass stakeholders to assess whether moves in biomass fuel prices might warrant such action at the next banding review starting October 2010.

Renewable Energy

Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the statement of 9 December 2009,  Official Report , columns 359-71, on Pre-Budget Report how many households he expects to install  (a) micro wind turbines and  (b) solar panels.

David Kidney: Based on the tariffs proposed in the Renewable Electricity Financial Incentives Consultation, our modelling suggests that by 2020 there will be approximately 20,000 small scale domestic wind turbines and 800,000 domestic scale solar photo voltaic (PV) installations.
	These projections are based on modelling which relies on a number of assumptions which in reality will be uncertain. Therefore actual installation numbers may differ from projected installation numbers.

Renewable Energy: EU Law

Michael Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what recent discussions his Department has had with the European Commission on ensuring that the transmission charging methodology in the UK is in line with the EU Renewables Directive.

David Kidney: My officials recently responded to a European Commission request for a paper explaining how the transmission charging methodology in the UK is compliant with the renewables directive. Officials also attended a hearing at the European Parliament on 1 December at which the Commission was represented. The Commission agreed with our conclusion that the methodology is compliant with the directive.

Sellafield

Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change with reference to the answer of 12 October 2009,  Official Report, column 490W, on Sellafield, if he will place in the Library a copy of the report from Sellafield Ltd regarding the contamination event which took place on 20 June 2008.

David Kidney: Yes. The report is Sellafield Ltd's own document and certain information is being withheld at the company's request to ensure site security, and to protect personal identities and commercial interests.

Wind Power

Julian Brazier: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what discussions his Department has had with  (a) Vattenfall,  (b) London Array Ltd. and  (c) the Port of Ramsgate on the suitability of the local workforce for maintenance and support operations for Thanet Offshore and the London Array windfarms.

David Kidney: The Department has not had any discussions with  (a) Vattenfall  (b) London Array Ltd. or  (c) the Port of Ramsgate regarding the suitability of the local workforce for maintenance and support operations for the Thanet and the London Array offshore wind farms as this is a matter for the market.
	The Government are supporting the development of the appropriate skills on a nationwide basis through the Sector Skills Councils and through providing support for the National Skills Academy for Power. We are also working with the British Wind Energy Association (BWEA) to develop a skills strategy for the sector. As part of this, the BWEA is developing a programme of apprentice training for the start of the next academic year which will provide training for a new generation of turbine technicians.

Wind Power

Julian Brazier: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assessment his Department has made of the potential employment opportunities represented by the maintenance and operation of Thanet Offshore and the London Array windfarms when completed; and what steps he has taken to put in place training arrangements for the local community to provide skills relevant to employment in windfarms.

David Kidney: The Department has not made any assessment of the potential employment opportunities represented by the maintenance and operation of the Thanet and London Array offshore wind farms when completed.
	We have not put in place training for the local community to provide skills relevant to employment in wind farms as this is a matter for the market. I refer my hon. Friend to my answer today to parliamentary question number 305097 in respect of action that the Government are taking to support the development of these skills on a nationwide basis.

CABINET OFFICE

Charity Commission: Conferences

Graham Stuart: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many  (a) away days and  (b) conferences that took place outside the Charity Commission's buildings attended by civil servants in the Charity Commission there have been since 2005; and what the cost was of each.

Angela Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the Charity Commission. I have asked the commission to reply.
	 Letter from Andrew Hind, dated 14 December 2009:
	As the Chief Executive of the Charity Commission, I have been asked to respond to your written Parliamentary Question on how many (a) away days and (b) conferences that took place outside the Charity Commission's buildings attended by civil servants in the Charity Commission there have been since 2005; and what the cost was of each (307465).
	Our expenditure on conferences and away days for each financial year is set out below:
	
		
			  £ 
			   Conferences  Away days 
			 2005-06 88,681 27,639 
			 2006-07 45,930 38,465 
			 2007-08 55,247 47,387 
			 2008-09 118,328 78,562 
		
	
	A proportion of expenditure on conferences is spent on our staff attending external conferences for professional development purposes. It is important to note that the conferences hosted by the Commission are attended by charity sector representatives to enhance the quality of governance across the charity sector. We do not have access to detailed data on attendance.
	Generally, away days are attended by Charity Commission staff for training and strategic development purposes, with the occasional guest speaker who may be a civil servant. We do not hold data on the number of events held each year because these often occur at a divisional team level and budgetary control is exercised on the cost, not the volume of occurrence.
	I hope this is helpful.

Charity Commission: Operating Costs

John Leech: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what the cost of running the Charities Commission was  (a) in the 12 months before the introduction of the Charities Act 2006 and  (b) in the last 12 months; and what the projected costs to the Commission of implementing and enforcing compliance with the Act will be in the next 12 months.

Angela Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the Charity Commission. I have asked the Commission to reply.
	 Letter from Andrew Hind, dated 14 December 2009:
	As the Chief Executive of the Charity Commission, I have been asked to respond to your written Parliamentary Question on what the cost of running the Charity Commission was (a) in the 12 months before the introduction of the Charities Act 2006 and (b) in the last 12 months; and what the projected costs to the Commission of implementing and enforcing compliance with the Act will be in the next 12 months (307437).
	The Charities Act 2006 received Royal Assent on 8 November 2006, although the introduction of many of its provisions has been spread over a series of Commencement Orders between February 2007 and January 2009. Several provisions of the Act have not yet been introduced and the timing and detail of these provisions have yet to be agreed and will go beyond 2010/11.
	The Act places a number of statutory objectives on the Commission and our whole budget is, effectively, devoted to meeting these objectives:
	(a) The total cost of running the Charity Commission in the year before the Royal Assent was received (2005/06) was £31.6m.
	(b) The total cost of running the Charity Commission last year (2008/09) was £31.8m.
	(c) The total cost of running the Charity Commission this year (2009/10) is forecast to be £30.9m.
	(d) The Charity Commission's funding baseline for 2010/11 is £29.5m.
	The overall regulatory nature of the Charity Commission's responsibilities means that it is not possible to differentiate between future costs relating purely to the provisions of the 2006 Act and other more general duties.
	I hope this is helpful.

Death: Dietary Supplements

Lembit �pik: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many deaths attributable to the use of food supplements were recorded in each of the last 10 years; and if she will make a statement.

Angela Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	 Letter from Jil Matheson, dated December 2009:
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking how many deaths attributable to the use of food supplements were recorded in each of the last 10 years. (307120)
	The information requested is not available. The accurate reporting of deaths by specific causes depends on the complete recording of all relevant causes of death by medical practitioners and coroners. Medical practitioners are required to complete the Medical Certificate of Cause of Death (MCCD) to the best of their knowledge and belief. Internationally accepted guidance from the World Health Organisation requires only those conditions that contributed directly to death to be recorded. The MCCD is not designed to collect information on possible risk factors or exposures related to the development of disease.
	ONS reports on mortality figures by cause using the International Classification of Diseases (ICD). There are no ICD codes for adverse reactions to food supplements.

Death: Leeds

John Battle: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what the main causes of death were for  (a) men and  (b) women living in Leeds, West constituency in each of the last 10 years.

Angela Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
	 Letter from Jil Matheson, dated December 2009:
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking what the main causes of death were for (a) men and (b) women living in Leeds, West constituency in each of the last 10 years. (306991)
	The tables attached identifies the main causes of death for (a) males and (b) females in Leeds, West parliamentary constituency for each of the years 1999 to 2008 (the latest year available).
	
		
			  Table 1. Main causes of death classified according to the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9), males, Leeds West parliamentary constituency, 1999 to 2000( 1, 2, 3) 
			   Years when this was a main cause of death for males  
			  Cause of death  1999  2000  ICD-9 codes 
			 Cerebrovascular diseases * * 430-438 
			 Chronic lower respiratory diseases * * 490-494, 496 
			 Influenza and pneumonia * * 480-487 
			 Ischaemic heart diseases * * 410-414 
			 Malignant neoplasm (cancer) of colon, sigmoid, rectum and anus * - 153-154 
			 Malignant neoplasm (cancer) of oesophagus * - 150 
			 Malignant neoplasm (cancer) of prostate * * 185 
			 Malignant neoplasm (cancer) of stomach * * 151 
			 Malignant neoplasm (cancer) of trachea, bronchus and lung * * 162 
			 (1 )Causes of death recorded as the underlying cause in at least 10 male deaths registered in the year in question. These causes accounted for 59 per cent. of all male deaths in Leeds, West parliamentary constituency between 1999 and 2008. (2) Cause of death in England and Wales is defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9) for the years 1999 and 2000, and Tenth Revision (1CD-10) for 2001 onwards. (3) Based on boundaries as of 2009.  Note: The words in brackets have been added for clarity and are not part of the International Classification of Diseases. 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2. Main causes of death classified according to the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10), males, Leeds, West parliamentary constituency, 2001 to 2008( 1, 2, 3) 
			   Years when this was a main cause of death for mates  
			  Cause of death  2001  2002  2003  2004  2005  2006  2007  2008  ICD-10 codes 
			 Cerebrovascular diseases * * * * * * * * 160-169 
			 Chronic lower respiratory diseases * * * * * * * * J40-J47 
			 Cirrhosis and other diseases of liver   * * * * * * K7G-K76 
			 Diabetes - * - - - - - - E10-E14 
			 Diseases of the urinary system - * - - - - - - N00-N39 
			 Heart failure and complications and ill-defined heart disease - - * - - - - - 150-151 
			 Influenza and pneumonia * * * * * * * * J10-J18 
			 Ischaemic heart diseases * * * * * * * * I20-I25 
			 Malignant neoplasm (cancer) of colon, sigmoid, rectum and anus * * * - * - * * C18-C21 
			 Malignant neoplasm (cancer) of oesophagus - - - * - - - - C15 
			 Malignant neoplasm (cancer) of pancreas - - - * - - - - C25 
			 Malignant neoplasm (cancer) of prostate - * - * * * * - C61 
			 Malignant neoplasm (cancer) of trachea, bronchus and lung * * * * * * * * C33, C34 
			 Malignant neoplasms (cancer) of lymphoid, haematopoietic and related tissue - - - * - - * - C81-C96 
			 Suicide and injury/poisoning of undetermined intent - - * * - * * - X60-X84, Y10-Y34, exc.Y33.9 
			 (1 )Causes of death recorded as the underlying cause in at least 10 male deaths registered in the year in question. These causes accounted for S9 per cent. of all male deaths in Leeds, West parliamentary constituency between 1999 and 2008. (2) Cause of death in England and Wales is defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9) for the years 1999 and 2000, and Tenth Revision (ECD-10) for 2001 onwards. (3) Based on boundaries as of 2009.  Note: The words in brackets have been added for clarity and are not part of the International Classification of Diseases. 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 3. Main causes of death classified according to the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9), females, Leeds, West parliamentary constituency, 1999 to 2000( 1, 2, 3) 
			   Years when this was a main cause of death for females  
			  Cause of death  1999  2000  ICD-9  c odes 
			 Cerebrovascular diseases * * 430-438 
			 Chronic lower respiratory diseases * * 490-494,496 
			 Diseases of the musculoskeletal system and connective tissue * - 710-739 
			 Heart failure and complications and ill-defined heart disease * - 428-429 
			 Influenza and pneumonia * * 480-487 
			 Ischaemic heart diseases * * 410-414 
			 Malignant neoplasm (cancer) of colon, sigmoid, rectum and anus * * 153-154 
			 Malignant neoplasm (cancer) of trachea, bronchus and lung * * 162 
			 Malignant neoplasms (cancer) of breast * * 174-175 
			 (1 )Causes of death recorded as the underlying cause in at least 10 female deaths registered in the year in question. These causes accounted for 59 per cent. of all female deaths in Leeds, West parliamentary constituency between 1999 and 2008. (2 )Cause of death in England and Wales is defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9) for the years 1999 and 2000, and Tenth Revision (ICD-10) for 2001 onwards. (3) Based on boundaries as of 2009.  Note: The words in brackets have been added for clarity and are not part of the International Classification of Diseases. 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 4. Main causes of death classified according to the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10), females, Leeds, West parliamentary constituency, 2001 to 2008( 1, 2, 3) 
			   Years when this was a main cause of death for females  
			  Cause of death  2001  2002  2003  2004  2005  2006  2007  2008  ICD-10 Codes 
			 Aortic aneurysm and dissection * - - - - - - - 171 
			 Cerebrovascular diseases * * * * * * * * 160-169 
			 Chronic lower respiratory diseases * * * * * * * * J40-J47 
			 Dementia and Alzheimer's disease * * - * * * - * F01, F03, G30 
			 Diabetes - - * - - - - - E10-E14 
			 Diseases of the musculoskeletal system and connective tissue * * - - - - - - M00-M99 
			 Diseases of the urinary system - - - - - - - * N00-N39 
			 Heart failure and complications and ill-defined heart disease * * * - - - * - 150-151 
			 Influenza and pneumonia * * * * * * * * J10-J18 
			 Ischaemic heart diseases * * * * * * * * 120-125 
			 Malignant neoplasm (cancer) of colon, sigmoid, rectum and anus * - - * * - * * C18-C21 
			 Malignant neoplasm (cancer) of trachea, bronchus and lung * * * * * * * * C33, C34 
			 Malignant neoplasms (cancer) of breast * * * * * * * * C50 
			 (1 )Causes of death recorded as the underlying cause in at least 10 female deaths registered in the year in question. These causes accounted for 59 per cent. of all female deaths in Leeds, West parliamentary constituency between 1999 and 2008. (2) Cause of death in England and Wales is denned using the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (1CD-9) for the years 1999 and 2000, and Tenth Revision ([CD-10) for 2001 onwards. (3) Based on boundaries as of 2009.  Note: The words in brackets have been added for clarity and are not part of the International Classification of Diseases.

Death: Pressure Sores

Anne Milton: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many death certificates included the words pressure sores in each of the last two years.

Angela Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
	 Letter from Jil Matheson, dated December 2009:
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking how many death certificates included the words 'pressure sores' in each of the last two years. (307727)
	The number of deaths where pressure ulcer was mentioned on the death certificate, in England and Wales, was 1045 in 2007 and 970 in 2008 (the latest year available).(1, 2, 3)
	(1) Cause of death was defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) code 1.89 (Decubitus ulcer, bedsore, plaster ulcer or pressure ulcer) where it appeared anywhere on the death certificate.
	(2) Figures for England and Wales include deaths of non-residents.
	(3 )Figures are based on deaths registered in each calendar year.

Departmental Official Hospitality

Philip Hammond: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how much  (a) her Department and  (b) its agency spent on (i) alcohol and (ii) entertainment in the last 12 months.

Angela Smith: The information requested is not held centrally by the Cabinet Office and therefore is available only at disproportionate cost. Any expenditure on alcohol and entertainment is included in the Department's hospitality budget and is made in accordance with published departmental guidance on financial procedures and propriety, based on principles set out in Managing Public Money and the Treasury handbook on Regularity and Propriety.

Departmental Publicity

Philip Hammond: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how much her Department has spent on  (a) Ministerial photoshoots and  (b) production of videos in which (i) the Prime Minister and (ii) other Ministers appear in the last three years for which figures are available.

Angela Smith: This information could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Diseases: Leeds

John Battle: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what the  (a) diagnosis and  (b) mortality rate was for (i) chronic lung disease, (ii) coronary heart disease and (iii) cancer in Leeds, West constituency in each of the last 15 years.

Angela Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	 Letter from Jil Matheson, dated December 2009:
	As National Statistician, I have been asked for to reply to your recent question asking what the (a) diagnosis and (b) mortality rate was for (i) chronic lung disease, (ii) coronary heart disease and (iii) cancer in Leeds, West constituency in each of the last 15 years. (306992)
	Figures on newly diagnosed cases (incidence) of chronic lung disease and coronary heart disease are not readily available. Mortality and incidence rates for parliamentary constituencies which do not share boundaries exactly with a local authority can be calculated only from 2001 onwards. The tables below provide (a) the age standardised cancer incidence rate and (b) age standardised mortality rates for (i) chronic lung disease, (ii) coronary heart disease and (iii) cancer in Leeds, West parliamentary constituency for the years 2001 to 2007 (the latest available).
	Parliamentary constituency population estimates on which these rates are based are experimental statistics, that is, statistics which are in a testing or consultation phase, and therefore should be treated with caution.
	
		
			  Table 1: Age-standardised cancer incidence rates,( 1, 2)  Leeds, West parliamentary constituency,( 3 ) 2001 to 2007( 4,5) 
			   Cancer (cases per 100,000) 
			 2001 435 
			 2002 441 
			 2003 409 
			 2004 457 
			 2005 484 
			 2006 432 
			 2007 400 
			 (1) Age-standardised cancer registration rates per 100,000 population, standardised to the European Standard Population. Age-standardised rates are used to allow comparison between populations which may contain different proportions of people of different ages. (2) Cancer incidence defined using International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) codes C00-C97 excluding code C44: non-melanoma skin cancer. (3) Based on boundaries and postcode allocation, as of 2009. (4) Newly diagnosed cases registered in each calendar year. (5) Parliamentary constituency population estimates used to calculate the incidence rates are experimental statistics. 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2: Age standardised mortality rates for chronic lung disease, coronary heart disease and cancer,( 1, 2)  Leeds, West parliamentary constituency,( 3)  2001 to 2007( 4) 
			  Deaths per 100,000 
			   Chronic lung disease  Chronic heart disease  Cancer 
			 2001 48 142 209 
			 2002 59 152 243 
			 2003 59 130 219 
			 2004 46 126 229 
			 2005 50 125 215 
			 2006 34 116 209 
			 2007 35 140 260 
			 (1) Age-standardised mortality rates per 100,000 population, standardised to the European Standard Population. Age-standardised rates are used to allow comparison between populations which may contain different proportions of people of different ages. (2) Cause of death was defined using International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) codes J40-J47for chronic lung disease, I20-I25 for coronary heart disease and C00-C97 for cancer. (3 )Based on boundaries and postcode allocation, as of 2009. (4) Parliamentary constituency population estimates used to calculate the incidence rates are experimental statistics.

Employment: Leeds

John Battle: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many people are employed in 
	(1)  the service sector in Leeds;
	(2)  the financial sector in Leeds;
	(3)  commerce in each industry sector in  (a) Leeds, West constituency and  (b) Leeds;
	(4)  manufacturing in each industry sector in  (a) Leeds, West constituency and  (b) Leeds.

Angela Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
	 Letter from Jil Matheson, dated December 2009:
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Questions asking how many people are employed in the service sector in Leeds; how many people are employed in the financial sector in Leeds; how many people are employed in commerce in each industry sector in (a) Leeds, West constituency and (b) Leeds; and how many people are employed in manufacturing in each industry sector in (a) Leeds, West constituency and (b) Leeds (306583,306584, 306585 and 306586)
	The Office for National Statistics (ONS) compiles employment statistics for local areas from the Annual Population Survey (APS) following International Labour Organisation (ILO) definitions. Unfortunately the sample size does not support analyses of employment by industry for the Leeds, West Constituency.
	Table 1 shows the number of persons in employment by each industrial sector for persons resident in Leeds for the latest available 12 month period, ending in March 2009 from the APS.
	As with any sample survey, estimates from the APS arc subject to a margin of uncertainty. A guide to the quality of the estimates is given in table 1.
	National and local area estimates for many labour market statistics, including employment, unemployment and claimant count are available on the NOMIS website at: http://www.nomisweb.co.uk.
	
		
			  Table 1: Number of persons resident in Leeds in employment in each industrial sector, April 2008 to March 2009 
			   Thousands 
			 Agriculture and Fishing (1)****- 
			 Energy and Water (1)****- 
			 Manufacturing ***43 
			 Construction ***30 
			 Distribution, Hotels and Restaurants **69 
			 Transport and Communications ***29 
			 Banking, Finance and Insurance **70 
			 Public Administration, Education and Health **105 
			 Other Services ***19 
			 Total *372 
			 ( 1) Not available.  Note:  Coefficients of Variation have been calculated as an indication of the quality of the estimates. See Guide to Quality below.  Guide to Quality: The Coefficient of Variation (CV) indicates the quality of an estimate, the smaller the CV value the higher the quality. The true value is likely to lie within +/- twice the CV-for example, for an estimate of 200 with a CV of 5 per cent. we would expect the population total to be within the range 180-220  Key Coefficient of Variation (CV) (%) Statistical Robustness * 0 = CV≤5 Estimates are considered precise ** 5 = CV ≤10 Estimates are considered reasonably precise *** 10 = CV ≤20 Estimates are considered acceptable **** CV 20 Estimates are considered too unreliable for practical purposes Source: Annual Population Survey

Gift Aid

Graham Brady: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office which charities claimed more from the Exchequer in Gift Aid than the sum spent on charitable purposes in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Angela Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the Charity Commission. I have asked the commission to reply.
	 Letter from Andrew Hind, dated 14 December 2009:
	As the Chief Executive of the Charity Commission, I have been asked to respond to your written Parliamentary Question on which charities claimed more from the Exchequer in Gift Aid than the sum spent on charitable purposes in the most recent year for which figures are available (307644).
	The charity accounting framework does not require charities to account for Gift Aid as a separate item and we do not hold information on Gift Aid claims or receipts.
	I am sorry I am unable to provide more information in respect of this question.

National Income: Leeds

John Battle: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what the gross domestic product per head of the resident population in the City of Leeds was in each year since 1992.

Angela Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
	 Letter from Jil Matheson, dated December 2009:
	The Office for National Statistics publishes regional GVA rather than GDP. GVA is measured at current basic prices, which is GDP less taxes on products, plus subsidies on products. GVA by NLJTS3 regions, (principally individual counties and unitary authorities) has been calculated since 1995. The latest year for which GVA is published at NUTS3 level is 2007 and the earliest is 1995.
	The headline GVA estimates for the Leeds NUTS3 area, shown as £ per head figures, for the period 1995-2007, are shown in the table below:
	
		
			  City of Leeds 
			  £ 
			 1995 12,640 
			 1996 13,466 
			 1997 14,426 
			 1998 15,383 
			 1999 16,252 
			 2000 16,914 
			 2001 17,796 
			 2002 18,691 
			 2003 19,744 
			 2004 20,401 
			 2005 20,769 
			 2006 21,496 
			 2007 22,387 
			  Source:  Table 3.2, Regional GVA, ONS, available on the National Statistics website at: http://nswebcopy/downloads/theme_economy/NUTS3.xls

Population: Leeds

John Battle: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what forecast she has made of the population of Leeds City Council area in  (a) five,  (b) 10 and  (c) 15 years' time.

Angela Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
	 Letter from Jil Matheson, dated December 2009:
	.
	The Office for National Statistics (ONS) does not produce population forecasts.
	However, ONS does produce population projections for local authorities. The subnational population projections are demographic trend-based projections that indicate what the population levels of an area are likely to be if recently observed trends in fertility, mortality and migration were to continue. They take no account of future development policies which may affect trends.
	These projections are provided in Table 1 below. They are 2006-based subnational population projections which were published by the Office for National Statistics on 12 June 2008.
	
		
			  Table 1: Population Projections for Leeds 
			  Thousand 
			  Local Authority  Mid-2014  Mid-2019  Mid-2024 
			 Leeds 828 874 916

Private Life: Bexley

David Evennett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what estimate she has made of the number of  (a) marriages,  (b) civil partnerships and  (c) divorces in the London Borough of Bexley in the most recent period for which figures are available.

Angela Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
	 Letter from Jil Matheson, dated December 2009:
	As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking what estimate has been made of the number of (a) marriages, (b) civil partnerships and (c) divorces in the London Borough of Bexley in the most recent period for which figures are available. (306897)
	Using the most recent period for which figures are available for the London Borough of Bexley, the number of marriages in 2006 was 964 and the number of civil partnerships in 2008 was 24.
	Divorce statistics are based upon information supplied to ONS by the courts in England and Wales. The fact that a divorce has taken place in a court in a particular region does not mean that either one or both parties are resident there. Therefore, divorce statistics have been historically presented at a national level only.

UK Statistics Authority: Conferences

Graham Stuart: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many  (a) away days and  (b) conferences that took place outside the UK Statistics Authority's buildings attended by civil servants in the UK Statistics Authority there have been since 2005; and what the cost was of each.

Angela Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
	 Letter from Jil Matheson, dated December 2009:
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking how many (a) away days and (b) conferences outside the UK Statistics Authority's buildings attended by civil servants in the UK. Statistics Authority there have been since 2005; and what the cost was of each. 307447
	The requested information is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Unemployment

Theresa May: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office 
	(1)  how many and what percentage of economically inactive working age people would like a job; and how many and what percentage of economically inactive working age people would have liked a job in each year that the relevant dataset has been produced;
	(2)  how many discouraged workers there are; and how many discouraged workers there were in each year that the relevant dataset has been produced.

Angela Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	 Letter from Jil Matheson, dated December 2009:
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Questions asking (i) how many and what percentage of economically inactive working age people would like a job; and how many and what percentage of economically inactive working age people would have liked a job in each year that this data set has been produced (307062); and (ii) how many discouraged workers there are; and how many discouraged workers there were in each year that this data set has been produced (307064).
	Estimates of economic inactivity are available from the Labour Force Survey (LFS). In accordance with the International Labour Organization (ILO) definition, people are classed as economically inactive if they are neither in employment nor unemployed.
	The table provided contains estimates of the number of economically inactive people who would like a job, that is, people who when asked, report that they would like to have a regular paid job but had neither been looking for work in the last four weeks nor waiting to take up a job already obtained. Estimates of the number of discouraged workers, those whose main reason for being economically inactive is because they believe there are no jobs available, are also included.
	These estimates are published in Table 13 of the Labour Market Statistical Bulletin. The historical figures in Table 13 are published in the Labour Market Statistical Bulletin Historical Supplement which is available on the National Statistics website via the following link:
	http://www.statistics.gov.uk/OnlineProducts/LMS_FR_HS.asp
	
		
			  Level and percentage of economically inactive working age people who would like a job and those who are discouraged workers; quarter 1 each year 1993 to 2009, United Kingdom, seasonally adjusted 
			   Would like a job  Discouraged workers 
			   Level (thousand)  Percentage( 1)  Level (thousand)  Percentage( 2) 
			 1993 2,221 29.7 148 2.0 
			 1994 2,250 29.8 137 1.8 
			 1995 2,212 29.2 112 1.5 
			 1996 2,365 30.9 94 1.2 
			 1997 2,361 30.9 71 0.9 
			 1998 2,343 30.7 71 0.9 
			 1999 2,268 30.0 67 0.9 
			 2000 2,269 29.9 52 0.7 
			 2001 2,224 28.6 34 0.4 
			 2002 2,233 28.8 39 0.5 
			 2003 2,088 26.8 35 0.4 
			 2004 2,051 25.8 32 0.4 
			 2005 2,055 25.9 32 0.4 
			 2006 2,096 26.7 38 0.5 
			 2007 2,086 26.3 40 0.5 
			 2008 2,121 27.0 36 0.5 
			 2009 2,244 28.1 73 0.9 
			 (1) The number of people of working age who are inactive and would like a job divided by the number of people of working age who are economically inactive. (2) The number of people of working age who are inactive and are a discouraged worker divided by the number of people of working age who are economically inactive.  Note: It should be noted that the above estimates exclude people in most types of communal establishment (e.g. hotels, boarding houses, hostels, mobile home sites etc.).  Source: Labour Force Survey

Voluntary Organisations

Jennifer Willott: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office which national infrastructure voluntary organisations operate in England; in what year each started operation; and if she will make a statement.

Angela Smith: The Cabinet Office does not hold information on which national infrastructure voluntary organisations are operating in England. National infrastructure organisations that have charitable status are registered with the Charity Commission, and the Register of Charities is available on their website. The Office of the Third Sector is committed to investing in national and local sector support organisations that assist front-line groups, through Capacitybuilders. The Office of the Third Sector also funds a variety of national strategic partners, listed on its website, many of whom provide capacity building support, advocacy and training to the wider third sector.